Black Doctor
by Robin Pendragon
Summary: It has been 122 years since Sebastian was placed under the eternal spell of serving his young master, now a fellow fiend of hell. He must now find a different way to feed. Anime-based, set in modern times. SebxOC.
1. Black Doctor

***I don't own any of the characters from Kuroshitsuji. Obviously ^_^.**

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><p><strong>Thursday, 5:00pm.<strong>

"I had that dream again."

She sat indian style on the plush chocolate chair across from him. She clearly preferred it to the burgundy love seat placed against the wall facing the door of the small room. She chose it every week.

"Did you."

It was more statement than question. She nodded.

"I watch her from across the room, with _them_, but when I try to walk toward them, I freeze. It's like a can't move."

"What was going on this time?"

"The fire."

"Hmm." He nodded. This was a common dream for her, a haunting one. If he were capable of feeling pity for anybody, he would feel it for her. He noted this thought and logged it away.

She looked at him as though expecting an answer to a question she hadn't asked. She knew not to ask. With a frustrated sigh she leaned back on the chair and slouched.

"What do you think it means?" She asked anyway.

He shrugged and raised his eyebrows. "What do _you_ think it means?" She knew he would respond that way.

She looked toward him, not truly looking at him, and sat up to lean forward in the chair, resting her elbows on her knees. She looked down toward the checkered black and white carpet. It always made her think of a game of chess.

She stared at the carpet. When she spoke, it was slowly, deliberately.

"I guess I just wish…" she didn't finish her sentence. Afraid he was losing her, he called out her name.

"Cyd?"

No response.

"Cyd," he called more firmly, just a bit louder this time, hoping to prevent her from becoming catatonic again.

She took a sharp, deep breath. "Sorry. Um ," she took a couple moments to regain her thoughts. "I guess I just wish I'd been there for her, you know?"

"You wish you could have done something more."

She nodded.

"You can't change the past, and you certainly can't prevent the inevitable. It sounds like you wish you had done something to prevent your friend from keeping the company of those girls."

"Yea, maybe if I had she'd still be alive," she said somewhat angrily. He knew the anger was not directed at him.

"What could you have done?"

"I don't know. I could have told her to stop doing that shit, or I could've talked to her more often at school, or made time after."

"You didn't have any classes together. You mentioned your parents refused to give you permission to have visitors. The bottom line is that we are responsible for our own actions," he pointed out, "You are not responsible for your friend's overdose."

She became tearful, still looking angry. "She was my best friend."

"I know. I think you need to stop blaming yourself."

"Yesterday would have been her sixteenth birthday."

"Oh?"

She smiled. "We had this thing at school, one of the art kids volunteered to draw her picture. We gave it to her parents. We had an assembly, and then we each shared a special moment we had with her."

"My, how lovely."

She nodded, looking down once more.

"You know what I shared?"

"What was that?" He was truthfully curious.

Her expression changed to happy, almost mischievous, and she laughed, "That time when we threw pieces of ham and mustard all over Mr. Gerber's classroom during recess," she continued laughing, her voice becoming happier, "and when he came in we ran out the other door."

"Oh my, that sounds like a…" he did not know how to respond to that. Instead he stared blankly.

She gave a girly giggle. "Fuck, Dr. Michaelis, you've never not known what to say before!"

She enjoyed shocking other people. It was the reason she had been referred to him. Her schoolteachers were worried about her misbehavior and the fact that her grades had dropped since the accidental overdose of her best friend. When he had first met the young girl she had been extremely difficult to warm up. It took all he had to get her to respond with more than a shrug and an "I don't know," the way teenagers seem to do now. But he guessed that was appropriate for the situation.

For the past few months she had been in psychological treatment with him, and she had made significant improvement in her mood as well as her grades. From the beginning he noticed she tended to become almost catatonic when the subject of her disturbing dreams came up. It was a common theme. When she began to improve, he decided she could handle being challenged more often. When she appeared to zone off he would have to practically yell at her to bring her back to the real world. _Dr._ Sebastian Michaelis rather enjoyed talking to the girl. Despite her mischievous behavior, which he had attributed to adolescence, she had a very innocent, if not naive, personality. Much like a certain "young master" he had known almost a century and a half ago. The soul that had been promised and never delivered.

"It must have been hell to clean up. I feel sorry for the maintenance staff." He smiled.

"Well, I wish we could continue, but we have run out of time for today."

"Ok," she nodded.

"I will see you next week?"

"Uhuh," she gathered her backpack and jacket, and smiled before heading toward the door. He walked the young girl out and closed the door. It was time to prepare for his next patient.

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><p>I hope someone enjoys this. I am not the best writer ^_^.<p> 


	2. A Snack for the Young Master

**Thank you to those who took the time to review, and for the nice comments, I truly appreciate it!**

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><p><strong>Friday, 2:00pm<strong>

"…and then Micki picked them up and was like, 'What did you do to my shoes?', and so obviously I was just, like, _SO_ appalled that she would even be asking me that, like I said before, I never…"

The thin brunette sitting on the burgundy love seat across him could talk forever. Her oversized expensive handbag overflowing with smaller bags, papers, something that looked like a green article of clothing, and who knows what else, was placed next to her nearly taking up the other half of the seat.

He had learned after the first session or two that she truly just wanted to rant. A "soccer mom," she called herself. Completely neurotic. Four sons, one daughter, and a husband who was at work all the time or traveling (he was a lawyer). The wife of a colleague of her husband had a therapist, so she had found Sebastian. She didn't need therapy. Her biggest problem was deciding the theme for her turn hosting Sunday brunch. She was just lonely, and didn't have anyone to call a friend. As he understood it, it was almost a symbol of wealth if a young wife had a therapist. This time she ranted about some other housewife and… a pair of shoes? He had not been really listening.

He was so bored.

_He lunges at her, shutting her up in one swift motion… blood flowing free… he takes her soul… and the room becomes so quiet… so peaceful…_

"Hello? Dr. Michaelis?"

He had withdrawn into his own fantasy. Again.

"Hmm… well…" he tried to think of some generic statement to make before she began talking again.

"I mean, I was right, wasn't I?"

"Well, I think what truly matters is how you feel about it." As generic as he could think of for the situation. He hoped his statement was relevant to whatever it was she had been talking about.

"You're right. You're SO right! I mean, I am ALWAYS putting others before myself, and I feel like now it's time for me! It's time for Carla to get back on that horse and say 'Enough is enough!" she chuckled.

He smiled absentmindedly.

He looked at the clock on the wall behind her. 2:55pm. Finally.

"Looks like we've run out of time," he said.

"Thank you, doctor," she smiled, looking for her keys in that horridly oversized bag of hers. It took her a few minutes to locate them, all the while she was talking about… something unimportant, most likely.

"…which is why it would be so much easier if Larry would just agree to get a remote start thing for the car, but a lady can only hope…"

He ushered her out the door.

"Okay, see you next week!" she beamed, showing off perfectly white, perfectly straight teeth. He smiled back and shut the door to his office immediately, covering his face with his right hand in an expression that said he was tired. He sighed.

"Well, that was a waste of time. When are you going to …_terminate_ her?"

He turned to the young boy who now sat on the chocolate-colored chair, smirking.

"Excuse me for saying so, but that color does not suit you at all, my lord." Ciel wore a bright orange t-shirt that hurt the eyes, with a robot on the front... transmorpher? transformer? Dark denim pants and a pair of generic shoes. Age-appropriate. So not like him.

'_SO not like him_'? He chastised himself for his thought, the manner of speech that annoying woman employed rubbed off on him every time he met with her.

It was clothing that allowed the boy to fit in with his "cohort". This decade anyway. He had gotten bored, and had decided to attend the public school for… well, until he became bored with it again. He couldn't blame the boy, a demon's life can become quite mundane.

"I'm hungry Sebastian." Ciel said, leaning back in the chair, hands crossed behind his head.

"Yes, my lord. What would you have me do? Shall I fetch that woman back?" He smiled. Part of him wanted his master to say yes.

"When do you get new patients?" Ciel asked, anticipating Sebastian would finally find an appropriate soul for him devour. It had been Ciel's idea that they would both benefit if Sebastian were in a position to know the deepest, darkest crevices of the human heart, to be in a position for the meal to come to him. Acquiring the degree and the license to practice had not been difficult. Money could buy almost anything in the human world.

It had not worked out as anticipated. He thought Sebastian's patients would be people who wanted the safety of the ethics of psychology that secured confidentiality, that they would have no friends or relatives, and that they would turn out to be the lowest of humans who nobody would miss. Or that they would all be suicidal. It was not so.

"I am expecting a new one this evening."

"Friday night? Who makes a therapy appointment on a Friday night? Isn't that usually when all the souls desperate enough to be worth taking like to drown their sorrows with drink?"

"How was school?" He deflected, smiling, knowing well his master loathed the new disgusting public school he had consciously chosen to attend.

"Do you have to ask?" Ciel responded.

"Forgive me for saying this master, but wasn't it your idea to return to school, again?"

"Shut up. The professors don't know a thing. I have never encountered people so stupid. Completely unaware of how irrelevant they are to the world."

"Humans wouldn't say so," Sebastian said. He liked to irk his master. Ciel ignored this comment.

"And the students?" Sebastian knew Ciel had a gift for isolating himself from the rest. It wasn't the first time he had tried attending a school with children, although the reason had never been to socialize. He didn't do it often, but he liked to hunt young, innocent souls. Or so he said. Sebastian had never seen him in the act.

"Nothing ever changes."

Every few years they had to move to a new city. These past few decades it had become increasingly difficult to simply go through the human world unnoticed. The technological revolution had made it so. Ciel did not want to live in the shadows. He did not know what he wanted, only that he had a hunger he could not calm. He became impatient. He constantly sought change in their eternal existence. One of the problems of creating a demon out of a child, Sebastian thought.

"Fetch me someone, anyone."

Sebastian smirked. "Yes, my lord."

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><p>Hope this one was enjoyable as well! So, since this is based on the anime, Ciel is present, though NOT a reincarnation of himself... but the story will not center around him so much, it centers around Sebas-chan. Given the ending of the anime season 2 (SPOILERS) Ciel must appear here as his demon self and Sebastian's master. I kept thinking of what would happen a century later, or two? How would these two feed? And it hit me ^_^. Hope you continue to enjoy the story! Oh! And of course, there will be romance! I have not yet introduced all the characters *wink wink*<p> 


	3. New Patient

**I don't own Kuroshitsuji or any of its characters. **

**Once again, thank you so much for the wonderful comments and reviews, you guys inspire me to write more often. It warms my heart to know that there are people out there who are enjoying this fic. I do welcome constructive criticism as well though, ^_^ this is my first shot at a fanfic. **

**I will try to cover more history as I write the chapters, I want to offer more "meat" to the story, and dimension to the characters. **

**Thank you for reading! **

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><p><strong>Friday, 7:00pm<strong>

Sebastian was gathering the forms for his new patient.

Brief intake form - Check;

Brief Symptom Inventory to assess for the presence of a number of symptoms - Check;

Information form faxed from the referral source - ?

Where could he have left it? Not on his rosewood desk, not on the matching bookshelves. He didn't have much furniture in his office, which was attached to the house they had chosen to occupy for the next few years. Sebastian rarely misplaced anything. Had he read it he wouldn't need it, but he had assumed he would have a few seconds to review the information before the new patient arrived. He was about to go into the house to search there until...

"This one seems interesting."

He turned from the door which separated his office and their house and glared at Ciel, who lay on the love seat, holding the referral form before him seemingly amused.

"I was looking for that."

"_Angsty_!" Ciel exclaimed excitedly.

"Recent suicide attempt after boyfriend's death, possible visual and auditory hallucinations..." he continued, smiling, his eyes sparkling after each symptom he read.

The information sparked Sebastian's interest.

"Oh! She's a psychologist too!" This made Ciel burst out in laughter like he had not done in years. When he laughed like that, he almost seemed like the innocent little boy he appeared to be to the outside world.

"Hm," Sebastian formed a profile of her in his mind. Surely someone who obviously lacked basic skills to take care of herself would not be allowed to continue practicing therapy. He assumed she might be coming to see him as a condition for continuing with her career.

"It says she has to see you until you deem her appropriate to return to her practice," Ciel said, confirming what Sebastian had been thinking. Ciel truly seemed to be enjoying this.

"This may be what we are looking for. If she disappeared, people might just assume she took her own life. Sebastian, I order you to assess her thoroughly, find a weakness, and let me know what you conclude."

"Yes, my lord."

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><p>7:10pm.<p>

Ten minutes into the hour, and the patient was not yet present. This left less time to assess. Could she have decided not to come in after all?

Sebastian began to wonder what approach he should use. Psychological theories were all basically the same, but the approach one chose to take would determine the length of time they would need for therapy. He was listed as specializing in psychoanalysis, although this was really only because Ciel had thought it best to choose an orientation to therapy that would maximize his time with patients. Psychoanalysis called for years of therapy, sometimes multiple times each week. He chose to see patients only once weekly, unless they truly sparked his interest. Psychoanalytic therapy also required years of training, but again, they had found money (and fear) could seduce most humans into anything. He had "graduated" from the psychoanalytic institute without ever really having to attend training or supervision, or present proof of having met any requirements.

This didn't mean he had not done his research and certain amount of studying. He had read books, spoken to practitioners at conferences, attended symposiums, and he had worked at some agencies and hospitals before moving to this new city. He had found that child therapy was not for him. Aside from the occasional abusive parent they could take, it offered him and Ciel no benefits, as neither of them was interested in gaining a soul so easily. He preferred working with adults, as they usually had more pronounced negative feelings. In addition, through endless years of observing the human race he knew enough about human behavior, which made almost all of his patients quite predictable, and made every approach to psychotherapy he used appropriate and efficient. Despite their predictability, he was amused by humans and their behaviors, feelings, odd cognitions, and their way of explaining supernatural events as "psychiatric symptoms."

7:13pm. 37 minutes left for a session of appropriate length. If she showed up now he could probably keep her a bit longer.

He heard a car park outside, the car being turned off, car door opening and shutting. He could smell her before she reached the office door. He wondered if Ciel could smell her too, but he had retired to the house a few minutes before to do who knows what. His master would probably experience strong cravings at such a smell of…

_...anguish_.

_Pure anguish_.

Sebastian had not smelled such sweet despair since he had worked at the psychiatric hospital for that year in the beginning of their current life. That had been a wonderful year for both him and his master. Many patients went "missing," and the hospital staff had assumed they had "AWOL'd", gone absent without official leave.

He felt a smile form across his face as he heard a knock on the door.

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><p>Sorry, a bit of a cliffhanger ;)<p> 


	4. First Impressions

**Sorry guys, I didn't mean to make it seem in Ch.2 like Sebastian had taken Carla, the neurotic soccer mom, as a meal for Ciel. It was kind of left up to interpretation I guess, I should have clarified. She's not really a good target for them given her wealthy husband and social circle... if she went "missing" it would bring attention to Sebastian, since his office would have been the last place she was seen at.**

***Again, I do not own Kuroshitsuji***

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><p><strong>Friday, 7:13pm<strong>

He felt a smile form across his face as he heard a knock on the door.

He formed a mental picture of what he thought he would see: disheveled, depressed mood, swollen face from crying, possibly a tissue in hand to wipe off the tears, responding to stimuli that weren't there, she was supposed to be grieving her dead boyfriend, and she obviously couldn't care for herself… he wondered if there were any scars from her suicide attempt, he hadn't read how she had tried to do it… he had to admit he was a little excited about meeting this wretched soul.

His excitement faded instantly when he opened the door.

He felt his smile disappear, as he was faced with the reality, which was much different than his fantasy. The young woman who stood before him wore clean, matching black clothing, a happy smile, perfect posture, perfect makeup, not one of her dark brown locks out of place, an _un_-swollen face… he was highly disappointed. Still, it was too soon to tell. He hadn't been wrong about what he sensed, and he knew well that humans were excellent at hiding their emotions. Given the scent of pure anguish and despair he had picked up, could still pick up, this woman must be a professional at hiding emotions. This was very diagnostic in itself. He looked at the bright side, he had witnessed the same behavior countless times with Ciel when he was still human. At least she was wearing black clothing, a sign that she may actually be grieving still. He told himself he had simply gotten carried away by his imagination.

"Dr. Michaelis?" the woman smiled and extended her hand.

"Dr. Lucas," he greeted somewhat curtly, opting to use her professional title.

"Please, it's just Natalia." Her voice was soft, but firm. Like her handshake.

"Then I must insist you please call me Sebastian."

"Sorry I'm late," she walked into the office past him as he closed the door, and looked around the room. "May I sit?"

"Of course, please, anywhere you like."

She chose the plush chair. Most of his female patients chose the plush chair. He took his usual seat on the black leather chair across her. She took out her phone and set it on the coffee table that separated them, taking care to place it at a very specific angle in front of her, and then took a pen and placed it next to the phone, taking care as well to place it at that same angle. Interesting, he thought.

"May I offer you a glass of water, a cup of tea or coffee?"

"No, thank you," she said, crossing her legs and placing her hands folded on her lap. Still smiling. She was very polite, if he overlooked her tardiness.

"Um, I'm sorry about this, I usually try to be at- where I'm supposed to be at least fifteen minutes before to avoid being late, um… I actually drove here earlier today."

"Really?" he was surprised to hear this. Surely he would have picked up her specific scent before?

"I just drove by." That explained why he didn't sense her before. She noticed his expression of confusion and took it as alarm. She didn't want him to think she was a patient he would have to be careful with.

"It's just… I like to know where I am going. I am terrible with directions when I am nervous, lately, I guess I get distracted while driving and get lost..."

"Please, don't be nervous. We are colleagues." He tried to make her feel at ease.

She made intense eye contact. "You have nice eyes. Your son must take after you," she smiled.

"My son?" Now he _was_ a bit taken aback.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be intrusive," again, she had made herself come off as a stalker. "I drove by to look for the place at around the time school ends. I saw a little boy with a Transformers shirt coming in to your house and… well, he noticed me driving slowly and turned around… come to think of it I might have scared him… and anyway, I noticed he had the same color of eyes as you. Red-brown?Brown-red? It's an interesting hue, so it's quite noticeable. Please let him know I didn't mean to scare him-"

"Oh, right. Yes, my son. Don't worry about him," Sebastian wanted to laugh. Ciel scared? No, but he may have been a bit surprised. Ciel was rarely at ease, a slow-driving woman staring at their house, as he imagined she had, would certainly alarm anybody, even a demon child who always felt restless. He couldn't say this to his patient. "I'll let him know it's nothing to worry about." He smiled.

Natalia returned Sebastian's smile.

"But, again, I'm sorry for being late, something came up…" she didn't finish.

"Here I was thinking you had decided not to see me after all," Sebastian smiled.

"Oh, no, please… I… have heard excellent things about you. I just…well, to be honest, it is somewhat… difficult… for me to be here."

"I understand," Sebastian tried to show empathy, but decided that being brutally honest may be his best option, at least to break the ice. "I see and hear that you are nervous, and possibly feel embarrassed or humiliated that someone of your status suddenly finds herself on the other chair and unable to perform her job."

She looked at him like a deer in headlights. _Had he been too honest too soon?_ She looked intently at him for a brief moment, as though she were assessing him. Finally, she broke the silence.

"Um… I like your honesty." She smiled, and sighed, suddenly seeming more at ease. This made Sebastian feel more at ease too, he was worried for a moment he may have created tension. He had to admit, he had spoken out of his initial disappointment.

"So, I imagine we have some paperwork to do?" She seemed to have gathered her confidence and was less flustered. A _bit_ less. "You probably want to hear a little about myself, my history, my presenting problem, any past psychiatric symptoms, and I imagine you have some kind of assessment for me to complete, consent forms… shall we get to it?" she smiled, again that happy smile. Was she in denial, or was this her way of resisting treatment? Most likely a defense mechanism. But she seemed eager to begin. Perhaps she wanted to get it over with. Or was this a power struggle? Regardless, he would have time to build a relationship. He wanted to get to the core of the issue, and break through her outer shell. He decided a humanistic approach may be best. He would focus on her emotions, whether she expressed them or not, he would validate anything she did express, and he would show positive regard. First, he had to regain control of the session.

"Of course, we will get to that. But I'm afraid we only have thirty minutes left to complete all of this," he said, pointing at the paperwork and tossing it aside, "and it really is just a formality."

She seemed surprised if not shocked at his nonchalance.

He continued, "Please, we are colleagues. Focusing on paperwork will not give us enough time to get to know each other. In the spirit of partnership I will in fact, give you the brief assessment measure and consent forms to take home, and you can bring them to me next week." He wanted to gain her trust by making her feel like she was not like the other clients due to her profession, like he trusted her. Most importantly, he would not let her use the paperwork to build a wall between them in the first session. And now he had indirectly established that she _must_ come in next week, on time.

"Okay," she nodded, hesitantly, "it's just that I ha-"

"Please," he interrupted.

"Now, Natalia, tell me about your practice."

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><p>I, unfortunately, won't get to update every day this coming week. I WILL try though! ^_^<p>

BTW I wanted to correct a mistake I made in chapter two, a comment I made about the manga, I was confused with something else, so if you caught it please ignore me! I went back to correct it though, so if you had any trouble viewing any of the chapters it was because of the correction I made. Sorry!


	5. Building Rapport

***I don't own Kuroshitsuji.***

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><p><strong>Friday, continued.<strong>

"Now, Natalia, tell me about your practice."

"Um, well, I see a variety of patients…used to see, a variety of patients, of all ages. I specialized in trauma victims, and I appreciate the irony," she made herself vulnerable, as many do in therapy. Noticing that she had begun to expose herself, he mentally praised himself for his approach. She wasn't that strong after all. Still, he knew that for humans it could be overwhelming.

"It can be so overwhelming to see patient after patient with a history of trauma or abuse." He glossed over the last part of her statement for now.

She nodded, "Yes, very. Especially the little ones."

"Of course. I could never do it myself."

"Really? Oh yes, I imagine having a child yourself would make their stories harder to hear objectively, more countertransference."

The thought that he could use Ciel to his benefit crossed his mind. He logged it away for later reference.

"Do you have children?" He turned the focus back on her.

"No, I…" her voice broke for a second, before she could compose herself. "No, I don't. I mean, I like kids, I just never really thought they were for me. And then," she hesitated before finishing, "life happens."

He thought she might be referring to the loss of her significant other. Her tone of voice until now had been very soft, still a bit nervous but slowly warming up, and her body language reflected that. She was leaning back in her chair now, her body language reflecting she was feeling more comfortable in his office. He liked that. Her hands now were relaxing on the armrests of the chair, a reflection of his own sitting posture.

"Are you married, Sebastian?"

The focus back on him. This type of exchange is what he had allowed to happen from the moment he had established she was a "colleague" rather than a patient. Sebastian smiled inwardly for two reasons.

The first reason was that she was using his first name as he had insisted on, meaning she was beginning to trust him.

The second reason was that typically he would not answer personal questions, as he had learned that any information he disclosed would likely be shared with a family member or the patient's significant other. Then it would be difficult to remain fairly anonymous should Ciel choose to have one of the patients for an afternoon snack. Young demons were so indiscriminate with the souls they took. However, it appeared that Natalia had nobody. Except her dead boyfriend. She would likely not be talking to anybody about him. The question was indeed a usual one he got from most of his patients, young or old, male or female. When he did respond, the answer always surprised them.

"No, I never married."

She looked puzzled. _A man so attractive? What's wrong with him?_

"She died when the boy was very young." It wasn't a lie after all, Ciel's mother was dead.

"Oh how awful."

Sebastian smiled, deciding to change the subject. "What made you decide to open your practice in this beautiful city?"

She smiled. "Well, I've always loved the ocean. There's something eternally calming about it. Ron, my fiancé, loved to be near the water," she broke eye contact at this point, a sign she had become uncomfortable with the topic.

Her soft tone of voice remained the same, but her expression darkened. Looking down at her hands she continued, "I haven't been here for long actually, I moved from out of state after passing my licensing exam. So I had to re-take the state-specific part of it. It really didn't take long for my business to flourish, I'm actually very experienced, and good at what I do, and I had excellent letters of recommendation. My family helped me financially, so I had very little student loan debt, and they also helped me establish my private practice. That was about a year ago. Now it seems they've made themselves scarce."

That she had been engaged was news to him, as well as the family aspect. This was interesting information that he would want to know more about.

"What do you mean 'scarce'?"

"They disappeared. I mean, not literally. Since Ron died and I stated to hear... since they found out about Ron, they haven't even called to check in on me. They haven't emailed, nothing. I feel like I'm going through this on my own. And I can't tell anyone. Except you now."

He changed the subject again, "Why did you move?" He didn't want to come off cold, but he had some questions that may or may not take up more of the time than they had.

"For him. He had just received his doctorate in physics, and had accepted a position as post-doctoral researcher at the university."

"It sounds like you were very proud of him."

"I am. I was." She corrected herself immediately, her expression continued to darken. "I know you said we should get to know each other more because you want to build a good relationship, as we will likely be seeing a lot of each other in the coming months. I appreciate that you aren't pushing me, this is difficult enough. I have never needed this kind of help before. I had always been mentally stable before…"

"It's okay, Natalia, you don't have to rush to…"

"Please, I need to say this, Sebastian," she took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, then smiled, "Enough foreplay. Let's just get to the point." Her sudden change of character, as seen by her word choice and smile, surprised him, so he let her continue, "I can't dance around this, I just need to say it and get it over with," she looked out the window for a few moments, than back at him."

"I am the reason Ron is dead. I killed him."

This game just got interesting.

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><p>Hrmm... I feel like this chapter was lagging, maybe because I've been sick lately, wonder if it's reflecting on my writing. Let me know what you think...<p> 


	6. Visible Scars

***I do not own Kuroshitsuji.***

**A HUGE thank you to everyone who took the time to write a review!**

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><p><strong>Friday, continued.<strong>

"I killed him." She repeated.

He wanted her to explain further, but she couldn't get past that initial confession for a while, and as much as he craved to know more he didn't want to push. He realized he could not predict her so easily.

"I know that it's safe to say it here," she smirked somewhat sardonically, although he knew it was more toward herself than toward him. "We only report incidents involving intent to harm, not past events. I have no intent to kill anyone. Not anymore."

He nodded.

Silence.

They both sat quietly, mentally going over what had been said, until Sebastian finally broke the silence.

"Did he deserve it?"

She was not expecting that question. She became tearful and broke eye contact again.

"No." It was merely a whisper. She allowed a few tears to fall down her cheeks without wiping them away.

He wondered how much of this sadness was genuine. He needed to maintain his calm, collected attitude despite the shock, and new excitement.

She collected herself. "It was after killing Ron that I had my suicide attempt. I know you must be wondering about that too. I cut my artery here," she pointed to her upper left thigh, to the femoral artery. A deep cut to the femoral artery would be fatal, as far as he knew, especially if left to bleed out. That would explain why he didn't see any visible scars. "I used a kitchen knife, and all my willpower. I know I lost a lot of blood, I can remember when everything around me began to get dark… and I thought I saw…" she shook whatever that thought had been out of her head and continued, "I shouldn't have survived that, but somehow… I woke up four days later in a hospital. I don't even know who took me there... so now... here I am."

He listened intently; his calm face not reflecting the rapid speed of his thoughts, his body resisting the increasingly strong scent of despair.

"And I have no current intent or plan to harm myself again either." She gave a weak smile.

He was about to speak again, but decided not to.

"May I have a glass of water please."

Sebastian hesitated before responding, "Of course." He stood up to walk to the corner of the room, where he had a porcelain teapot, which she had initially thought was just Victorian style decor. She watched him pour water into a matching cup. As he walked toward her and handed her the cup, he gave her a reassuring smile.

"You are safe here, Natalia."

He wanted to know more. He could understand now why she was late, and why she had her phone where she could see the time it displayed. It was a form of avoiding, especially bringing it up toward the end of the session and even though he had not asked. Patients sometimes did this to push boundaries, but he didn't think this was her purpose. She had obviously intended to share this information regardless. He noticed it was past the end of their session. He was not going to interrupt her now. It was she who noticed the time, as he expected.

She looked at him for a moment with an expression of gloom, but quickly switched back to the happy smile she had presented with in the beginning.

Holding the cup between her hands she looked at it for a minute before returning her gaze toward him. "Thank you."

* * *

><p>After their session ended Sebastian retired back to the house. He walked up the staircase, looked out the window and could see the ocean. Yes, it was very calming indeed. He was left with many questions, and a feeling of something he could not explain. He had certainly picked up on her depressed mood, but had not anticipated it to be due to murder. Had she really committed murder? Why would she have said it if she had not done it? He could not imagine her engaging in any such action… but humans were excellent at deception and did not show their true colors in any first meeting, if at all.<p>

_'…lost a lot of blood… shouldn't have survived that…'_ What was she going to say before she stopped herself from continuing? What had she seen?

Her words played over in his mind. A cut to the femoral artery… he had to research that thoroughly, but he was certain that it would have been fatal. _Should_ have been fatal. He remembered something that was said to him nearly a century and a half ago. Could it be that…? Hmm… he had to find an explanation.

Sebastian expected Ciel to be waiting for him to discuss his new patient, but he was nowhere to be found. Strange, he thought he had sensed Ciel nearby throughout the session. He couldn't be sleeping. They slept as a luxury. Although Ciel slept more often than Sebastian it was a rare occurrence.

So Sebastian was left alone with his thoughts as he began preparations for the following day.

* * *

><p>Ciel had followed Natalia home. He had of course been listening (why wouldn't he) through the entire session, sat right outside Sebastian's office door that separated his office from the main part of the house. Contrary to what Sebastian believed of him, Ciel did not want to gain souls so easily, nor was he that indiscriminate in his choices. The Earl-turned-fiend of hell quite enjoyed a thrilling hunting game as much as he had enjoyed games in his human life. Not as much as Sebastian enjoyed them, Ciel would certainly not starve himself waiting for "the right soul", but he had to agree with the elder demon, a game without thrills was no fun at all.<p>

He watched Natalia drive back to her home, a condominium in the heart of downtown, about thirty miles from their house, which sat atop a cliff overlooking the ocean. It was not a long drive, given that only one highway connected the two general areas. The type of humans who chose a dwelling location such as the one Natalia occupied typically liked to be surrounded by many other people. But she seemed to be completely alone. Where had her friends gone? Certainly she'd had them at some point, right? A cohort of sorts, colleagues, coworkers? Of course, she may have withdrawn from them, or they from her, after she had killed her fiancé.

He watched her from the shadows. He could pick up her scent more easily now that he was familiar with it after the time she had spent with Sebastian. Her building was nearly entirely made of glass from floor to ceiling. He watched her park her car, in what seemed to be an assigned parking spot in an underground garage. He watched her take the elevator up to the lobby, where she then checked her mailbox. He watched her now from the top of the taller building adjacent to her own as she took the elevator again up to the 27th floor of the thirty-story building. He watched as she entered her home, dropped the mail on her breakfast bar, on top of what seemed to be a pile of older correspondence, and tossed her purse aside not caring to see where it landed. He even watched as she walked to her bedroom, took off her heels, took off her clothes and changed into a black nightgown, and then walked to the kitchen to serve herself a glass of what he could see was cheap red wine.

He watched for hours. She didn't sleep. This was notable. Sebastian may find this bit of information interesting, if he were to share it. The game would not be as interesting if he did.

Three in the morning. Natalia was still awake. She had been drinking glass after glass of wine, and the bottle was now nearly empty. He saw her finish the last bit directly from the bottle. He had been right after all, any soul worth taking would drown their sorrows in drink on a Friday night. He had the feeling this may be a daily behavior for her rather than a Friday night occurrence. She seemed to have been listening to music in her living room now for the past four hours or so. He got distracted watching the people below lining the sidewalks emptying the bars and clubs, like ants, walking back to wherever it is they had come from, or on their way to try out new toys they had met for the night. Ciel contemptuously watched them. He finally saw Natalia had fallen asleep on the couch at nearly four thirty in the morning.

* * *

><p><em>Meow? Meoooww!<em>

The little voice Sebastian heard made him rush to the back garden.

_That beautiful, silken black coat, incredibly soft paws, dark round eyes he could never resist._

_Meooow!_ The kitten cried.

"Who is this little precious? … What are you doing here all alone at this time of night? Ah, so beautiful…" he was completely under a spell as he carefully stroke the kitten's black coat. "Oh, you are hungry aren't you…" The kitten played with Sebastian's hand. She was too small for any type of solid food, she must have been separated from her mother. "Oh, my, so playful..." He carefully picked her up in his arms. The master isn't human anymore, so he is not allergic to felines. Nevertheless, he does not like cats. But he is nowhere to be found at the moment… what harm could it do? He brought the kitten inside, and carried her in his arms as he looked for something to feed her.

* * *

><p>^_^ thanks for reading!<p> 


	7. Reminiscence

***I don't own Kuroshitsuji or any of its characters ^_^***

**Like I mentioned before, I wanted to add more history as I wrote the chapters. This one is a bit history heavy, but hopefully not dry!**

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><p><strong>Monday, 1:52pm.<strong>

_"Initial Assessment_

_The patient is Lindsay Havens, 27 years old, unemployed, married female. She self referred due to increasing symptoms of depression including depressed mood, fatigue, loss of interest in daily activities, crying two to three times a day for the past two weeks, and feelings of helplessness and worthlessness. She has denied ever experiencing a manic episode, although she admits that in college she went through a period of insomnia and abnormally increased energy that were not the result of any substance. She is currently denying suicidal and homicidal ideation, and denying psychotic symptoms._

_Lindsay has been married for two years and has no children, though she reports she wants "one or two". Past psychiatric history includes a suicide attempt at age 17 by cutting her wrists with a razor blade. She was found in the bathroom by her mother, who rushed Lindsay to the ER and then enrolled her in group psychotherapy after her physical recovery._

_Precipitating factor to her past suicide attempt was a break-up with a long term high school boyfriend after she discovered him kissing another girl. Lindsay admits upon initial assessment that her suicide attempt was "stupid."_

_Precipitating factors to her current problem include Lindsay's belief that her husband no longer loves her, and that he may be cheating on her with another woman, although she has no evidence for this._

_Family history of psychiatric problems includes her father being diagnosed with depression and overdosing on his psychotropic medications when Lindsay was 24. Her mother has been diagnosed with Bipolar I Disorder. At age 4 Lindsay witnessed her mother attempting to hang herself with an electric cord in the living room. She states her mother is currently her strongest support system."_

Sebastian looked over his written assessment of the 1:00pm-1:50pm patient he had seen for the first time. It took him all of two minutes to write up his assessment, and come up with a diagnosis:

_"Diagnosis: _

_Axis I: Major Depressive Disorder, Recurrent without Psychotic Features._

_Rule Out Bipolar II Disorder_

_Axis II: Diagnosis deferred, Rule Out Borderline Personality Disorder_

_Axis III: No Diagnosis_

_Axis IV: Problems with primary support group_

_Axis V: Current Global Assessment of Functioning= 77; Highest in past year= 89*"_

He took a deep breath and left his assessment. Humans could be burdensome. Especially juggling his own "business" for his master, while still serving as butler to the former Earl Phantomhive. He had to admit that Ciel now looked upon him as a mentor and role model more than a butler and bodyguard, and he was content with that now. He was the one who taught the younger demon everything he now knew about being who he was.

Nearly 122 years ago Ciel Phantomhive had died to the human world. Sebastian was then stuck for all eternity with the demon that he became, or until his master released him, which he was highly unlikely to do. Sebastian had at first held a deep resentment for losing Ciel's soul, which he had carefully cultivated over years of servitude. It was going to be his prize for his patience and hard work, and he was going to savor it for an eternity. But he had lost it. In many ways he blamed himself, and had for years hated the thing that reminded him day in and day out of his great loss: Ciel's demon self, in that body that had once been the vessel to the soul Sebastian had so craved. Since that day Sebastian had learned the meaning of what humans called loss.

But Sebastian had soon realized that demon _was_ Ciel. It had his consciousness, ways, his idiosyncrasies, some of his beliefs, and manner of speech. His soul had gone, but it was still him in essence. So Sebastian grew attached to that thing that reminded him of his great loss, as he had grown attached to Ciel in his human life. He came to accept reality as it was and accept his fate, his eternal spell. His master did not prevent him from devouring other souls, rather he at times seemed to be in competition with him. His master loved games.

In the beginning, they had traveled aimlessly through Europe for years. Then Ciel asked Sebastian what had become of those he had known in his human life, specifically his former fiancee the Lady Elizabeth Midford. Sebastian had not anticipated this. In 1912 Ciel wanted to return to England to see for himself. He saw that his family's company had lived on even after his 'death,' and had remained a family business, thanks to his aunt Frances. Then Lizzy took over after her mother passed. Lizzy had turned out to be a sharp business woman, and had married a nice nobleman of equal status who seemed supportive of her goal to make Funtom Company something she thought Ciel would have been proud of. When Ciel saw her again in 1912 she was in her late 30's. She had expanded his business in America and it was flourishing. He saw that she seemed content. She had an older son, blonde hair, blue eyes, who looked just like his mother. Lizzy's son took over the Funtom Company after she died in 1914. That year Ciel told Sebastian to take him to America. He had had enough of Europe.

Ciel had followed the history of the Funtom Company and its owners. Mere curiosity, he claimed it was. Sebastian suspected otherwise. Funtom Company became Funtom Corporation in 1932 under Lizzy's grandson, William's presidency. It was hit hard by the Great Depression, and then by World War II, but it was William's son, Lizzy's great-grandson, Charles, who brought the corporation out of near-ruins again to the top of the business world in the 1950's, stronger than ever. Funtom Corp had enjoyed uninterrupted success since.

In the late 1990's, a girl with a vision came along. Cecilia, the 15-year old granddaughter of Charles, began to have influence over her father's decisions in regard to the corporation. She had seen other companies take advantage of the importance of technology in entertainment, and anticipated that was the next natural step for Funtom Corp. At 17 after graduating high school she talked her father into letting her scout the continent for a year, looking for game designers and computer programmers, promising she would expand the corporation within the year, and most importantly to her father, that she would go to college and finish in three years if he gave her his blessing and financial backing. A year later, keeping to her promise, she almost singlehandedly established PhantomHive Entertainment, an ode to the long-deceased company founders. Ciel had not missed this gesture. PhantomHive Entertainment was the virtual gaming and graphic arts wing of Funtom Corp, and almost immediately proved to be wildly successful. Cecilia finally became president of the corporation after graduating college in 2004, becoming the youngest female president of Funtom Corp since Lady Elizabeth. By 2006, PhantomHive Entertainment's virtual role-playing games were incredibly successful in Europe. By 2008, _FuntasyLand_ was the single most popular online role playing game among children under 12 in Europe and the Americas, while _Phantom Empire,_ which boasted the best graphics of any game in current existence, was the most popular MMORPG among teenagers and adults under 45.

In 2009, Cecilia was shot to death outside the Funtom Corp London headquarters while on a business trip. She was twenty-six. Her younger sister, Felice, had replaced her, and had managed to maintain the company as Cecilia had made it. Felice offered a more humble presence, using social media networking to their advantage to offer customers the opportunity to sample new games free of charge for a brief trial period, and then vote on which they preferred to be turned into a full blown RPG. It was a brilliant marketing idea. She was also famous for opening Funtom Stores around the world, something her sister had been in the process of doing before her death. The most successful locations were New York City, San Francisco, London, Tel Aviv, and Tokyo. Felice sometimes made personal appearances at these locations, as a clerk at her own stores. This seemed to give customers a sense of trust. Ciel thought it was ridiculous.

Sebastian mainly knew all of this because Ciel had him look up the information, and because Ciel had a book in their library, _Phantomhive Empire: the Rise, Fall, and Rise of the Funtom Company_, the cover of which told him that book had been read over and over again. _Mere curiosity, master?_

Sebastian flipped through the book being careful not to disturb the bent corners of the many pages Ciel had bookmarked, mainly those that contained excerpts from the diaries of various Funtom Company/Corp presidents, including Lizzy.

"We can get another copy if you want," Sebastian said, not having to turn around to know that his master had come into the library.

Ciel seemed upset. "That won't be necessary."

"Was there anything the young master would like to discuss? You've been gone for two days, master."

"What are you talking about? I've been here the entire weekend, having to put up with the incessant crying of that cat of yours. By the way, I don't recall giving you permission to keep it"

Sebastian had been caught. "I'm sorry, master, I couldn't leave her out alone in the cold. You know how I feel about them," he smiled.

"Only things you feel anything for," Ciel muttered.

Sebastian wanted to protest, but Ciel spoke first.

"I'm going out."

"Does the master require any-"

"Do my school homework. It was due this morning. There appears to be a new vampire and zombies trend, get me some appropriate articles of clothing, I must continue to blend in. Get me a copy of _Phantom Empire_, and there's a note for you from that stupid dance teacher."

"I'm sorry, did I hear correctly? The master is asking me to procure him a _computer game_?" Sebastian sounded amused.

"Just do it. And make sure you bring my grade up in that stupid class."

Sebastian sighed inwardly as Ciel left the room. His work was never over.

It appeared it was time for another visit to Ciel's dance instructor, Ms. Oliver.

* * *

><p>*Here is a link if you want to know more about the 5 Axes of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, used to make psychiatric diagnoses: h t t p : panic disorder. about .com/od/ diagnosis/a/ DSMAxis.h t m. Copy and paste the link and remove the spaces, it wasn't letting me place the link here otherwise for some reason.

So, I know I said Ciel would not be the center of the story, but it felt like he _needs_ to be a big part of it! I felt like I couldn't have Sebby without his master being a big part of the story. So I changed my mind :P STILL not a SebaCiel story, sorry to disappoint some people.

Sorry for leaving the Natalia story for now, but remember she is supposed to see Sebastian once weekly on Friday nights, and he does have clients during the week ;). We will find out a lot more about her and her role as the story progresses! Hint: she's going to be Sebby's favorite patient *wink wink*


	8. Stalker

**Double upload! Because I couldn't leave you guys with no more Natalia/Seb. And because I probably won't be able to upload tomorrow :(**

***I do not own Kuroshitsuji or its characters ^_^***

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><p><strong>Tuesday, 12:00pm<strong>

"Dimitri, let me summarize. You followed the girl around campus all day, ignoring your own classes,"

Dimitri, Sebastian's only Tuesday patient, nodded as Sebastian continued, "missed your ride back home because you were watching her 'talk to her friends', after which you decided to follow her home, _just_ to see her walk and get home 'safe',"

Dimitri nodded.

"On top of that, you stood outside of her home with your iPod on speaker playing love songs over and over again until the police picked you up,"

"Uhh, yea..." was all Dimitri could say.

Sebastian wanted to bang Dimitri's head against the wall. Instead he just coldly narrowed his eyes at his 23-year old patient, who had presented every week for the four weeks of treatment with some new stalker-like tendency. Sebastian would have to spend nearly the entire session explaining why his well-intentioned and socially inadequate behaviors may be taken the wrong way. He was getting tired of it.

"Dimitri, you are a moron."

Dimitri stared blankly at Sebastian.

Sebastian took a deep breath before explaining this one.

"It's clear, once again, that you have an unhealthy obsession with that girl,"

"It's love, dude, I told you, I'm in love," Dimitri interrupted.

"Let me finish," Sebastian was firmer than usual.

"Your infatuation is not 'love.' It's an obsession. I know in that deluded mind you think it's love. In that deluded mind, the behaviors you engage in are normal. Well, they aren't."

Dimitri looked like he had been slapped in the face.

"To be fair, it's not entirely your fault. Humans have a tendency to love as you have been taught to love by your primary caregivers, your earliest templates for being humans. They are your template for what to look for in a mate, or how to behave toward said mate. In your case, your overprotective, overly nurturing mother taught you to show love by engaging in behaviors that, quite frankly, most humans would be frightened by. Such as following the object of your '_love_' around campus or to her home. Of course it's no surprise you were arrested. I do hope it served you well."

Dimitri nearly gasped. "So, you're saying it's my mom's fault? Hmm..." He looked like he was trying to figure something out.

"She drove you every day to school and waited in the car until school was over, she went with you to every school outing, every friend's party, every summer camp through college, still does your hair, even now she tucks you in bed every night. You're gone for two hours and she begins to call you nonstop until you either pick up your phone or throw it at the ground out of annoyance. Yes, it's your mother's fault."

Dimitri looked as though he'd suddenly found the answer to some mystical puzzle he could never solve.

"Our time here is over. You know the way out."

Dimitri looked flabbergasted as he let himself out, pouting the whole way to his mother's car (his mother always drove him to his sessions). It had not even been fifty minutes yet.

Sebastian knew he had been rather rude, and possibly hurtful. He couldn't bring himself to feel pity for the young man. He had no patience for idiocy. This is why he had cleared his Tuesdays and scheduled his other patients for other days of the week. Dimitri took up all his patience. He somehow reminded Sebastian of those three idiots…

The phone rang.

"Dr. Michaelis speaking."

Silence.

"Is anybody there?" Sebastian asked again.

"_Sebastian_," she sobbed.

Sebastian felt a sudden change in his attitude and his tone of voice as he instantly recognized the voice at the other end.

"Natalia, what is the matter?"

"_I n-need to see you_," she sobbed again, "_I ca-an't handle this._"

"Do you want me to come to you?" He knew humans could not drive and cry at the same time without possibly hurting themselves.

"_N-no. No, can I come over? Do you h-have time?_"

"Yes. I will be waiting for you."

"_Okay, thank you_." She ended the call.

Sebastian slowly put the phone down. And smiled.

* * *

><p>I decided to leave out what happened with Ms. Oliver... because you guys probably know what happens when Sebastian has to get... <em>creative<em>... to get info for his master, in this case to get the teacher to do what he wants... I know, I went there... ugh... ;P


	9. Psychosis

**Sorry I didn't upload for a couple days. I've been super busy. I REALLY want to upload regularly, but you know life!**

***I don't own Kuroshitsuji or any of its characters***

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><p><strong>Tuesday, 1:30pm<strong>

"I was fine for a while you know. I hadn't experienced any psychotic symptoms. Last night it came back. That voice."

Sebastian made his best effort to make his face express compassion and empathy. He was finally going to hear the story.

"When did you first hear it?"

"It started 6 months ago. I'd never… I was healthy. Mentally stable. It's just so hard for me to comprehend why this is happening to me!"

She still cried, but it had definitely decreased since arriving at his office, and after he had given her some honey and peppermint tea which he had prepared before she arrived. It seemed to help.

"Keep going. The more detail you provide, the better I can understand the situation, and the better I can help you," he directed. His soothing voice seemed to calm her anxiety somewhat and, fighting to regulate her breathing, she continued.

"I thought I was just tired, I had been working so hard. The first time I heard it, it was just a mumble. It happened one night, as Ron was making dinner," she smiled as her mind went to the memory of that night. Sebastian couldn't explain why he felt a tinge of annoyance at the mention of Natalia's deceased fiancé's name.

She continued, "He was a vegetarian. I was at his place, he was making tofu burgers for me for the first time, and I was teasing him about how awful that sounded."

Her smile faded. "I excused myself to find my purse, I wanted to check my phone to make sure I hadn't missed any important calls from patients. I had started doing dialectical behavior therapy with some of my patients, we have to be available 24/7," she explained. Sebastian nodded.

"I know I was alone in the hallway, and I heard a mumble. I ignored it at the time, like I said, I thought I was just too tired. Two days later, I heard the same mumble. It woke me up in the morning. This time it was louder."

"Could you hear any other details about the voice?"

"Not then. Later that day, I heard it loudly, clearly. It was mortifying…" Sebastian could tell by her body language, and by her scent, that the memory of it was deeply emotionally disturbing.

"You know, having patients with psychosis is one thing. Experiencing hallucinations yourself… that's definitely something else. It's a different level of frightening."

"What did you hear, exactly?"

She avoided eye contact. "_Kill him_."

Sebastian was fascinated. The scent was intoxicating. He was reminded of his extremely psychotic, actively suicidal patients at the psychiatric hospital some years back.

"I know this is hard to talk about, but we must continue. Please, describe what the voice sounded like."

"It was a loud, deep, male voice. It scared me like I can't describe..."

"What were you doing at the time?"

"I was closing my office for the night, getting ready to return to my apartment."

"It was nighttime?"

"Yes, around eight or eight thirty."

"Please continue. What did you do?"

"I called an old friend of mine, Stefan. His partner is a psychiatrist. I stopped by their place. He prescribed me some sleeping meds, told me to get some rest, that I was probably overworking myself. I wanted to agree with him. I took the medication for a few nights. But my nights were filled with these awful nightmares of… death and different ways of… I dreamt every night that I killed Ron in a different way. Every night I killed him in my dreams."

Sebastian's fascination grew. What kind of psychosis was this? It wasn't normal for anyone to have their first psychotic break in their late twenties, it would usually happen in late adolescence or in the early twenties, but he couldn't say it was abnormal either.

"I am so sorry Natalia. That must have been utterly horrible for you." He was glad that she was looking at the ground, and not at him. Had she been looking at him, had _anyone_ been looking at him then, they would have seen he looked like a lion watching a gazelle. "I have to say, I am intrigued by the dreams. Had you ever had dreams of killing before?"

Natalia thought his choice of word, 'intrigued,' was interesting. "No."

"They got so bad that I stopped taking the sleeping pill, I couldn't let myself sleep I was so scared of the nightmares. I felt tired all the time. I started hearing the voice more often within days. Sometimes it was a whisper, other times it was like a regular voice. Then I started to see shadows where no shadows should be. I was so scared… I had to cancel my patients several times during the following weeks, and it got to the point where I just could not face going into the office. I just wanted it to stop. I called my friend Stefan again, and this time his partner prescribed an antipsychotic. By then, Ron had been getting increasingly worried about me. He asked me to stay with him for a few days until I felt better. He knew I had grown scared of being home alone."

"So you stayed with Ron for a few days?"

Natalia nodded.

"The first night I had the worst dream I'd had yet. It was _so_ vivid. I woke up in the middle of the night sweating, my heart was racing. I was alone. Ron left a note on his pillow saying someone at the lab had texted, there was an emergency and he'd had to go. The second night, I heard the voice louder than ever. Still saying those words… that was when… it happened. I woke up to the voice, practically screaming in my head, those same awful words... It would not stop. That night, Ron had been sleeping next to me.

"I remember getting up… I remember Ron found me crouched in the kitchen… I remember I attacked him… _I didn't mean to_, he didn't look like… to me, I thought he was a hallucination. It looked like his mouth was moving but no words were coming out… I guess… I really lost it. I know I reached out for the drawer where he kept his kitchen knives… I know I must have… the next thing I remember is crying uncontrollably over his body… _there was so much blood_…"

She was crying uncontrollably now as well. This was undoubtedly the first time she had talked about it to another being.

"Oh, Natalia," Sebastian shook his head. This was a time that called for some silence, he thought.

"I killed him! I can't believe it..."

"I know this is hard. We have to get through it, it's part of the treatment. I would not ask you to continue if I didn't think you could. What happened next?"

She took some deep breaths, trying to calm herself down. "I don't really know. It's a blur. I left him there. I got my things and I just left him there... I panicked... I went home..."

"What happened to the murder weapon?"

"I have it."

That he was not expecting. He thought she would have disposed of it somewhere, maybe in the ocean, that would be safest.

"It's in my apartment. The police never got a warrant to search my apartment. I expected them to. Every day, I expected them to come looking… when I came home that night, I called Stefan. I told him I'd had a nightmare, I called him from home. He came over to check up on me. I lied to him then, I told him I'd called Ron and there had been no answer. I didn't know what to do, Sebastian. The next day, when the housekeeper found Ron, Stefan was my alibi, and his partner confirmed that I had called their house. It just turned out that way I guess. Nobody ever saw anyone enter or leave Ron's place. There were no witnesses. It looked like there had been a struggle… and then I tried to commit suicide. If I were ever on the suspect list, my suicide attempt and my method must have taken me right out of it…

"That was when I had the most severe visual hallucinations, when I tried to kill myself. When I felt everything getting darker... I saw a man in a suit and glasses standing next to me, holding something in his hand, looked like a weapon of some sort..."

Sebastian was not surprised. Shinigami, no doubt. But she had seen _it_? They must definitely be getting more careless.

"I don't know why this is happening to me, I have no family history of mental illness, I have never experienced this before. I just want to be normal again..." she was still avoiding eye contact, choosing to look at the ground instead.

"I never turned myself in… you must think I'm a horrible person…"

Sebastian smiled. He got up and walked over, kneeling in front of her. He took her hands between his. He wouldn't do this with just any patient. When she looked at him, she saw a kind, compassionate man, more than just a colleague. A friend who could still look at her after she disclosed her terrible secret.

"I could never think you're a horrible person." He smiled warmly. "Something happened to you. It's not your fault. We will keep an eye out for the psychotic symptoms and we'll manage them. We will do exposure therapy. It will be difficult, but you will get through this, Natalia. You know, I am one hell of a psychologist."

She had no way to guess that the only thing Sebastian could be thinking about now was just how luscious her soul would taste.

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><p>^_^ I just had to use the catch phrase! ^_^<p> 


	10. Luring the Prey

***I don't own Kuroshitsuji or its characters.***

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><p>"I can't let you go home like this, you know." He now sat beside her on the couch, giving Natalia adequate personal space.<p>

"What do you mean?" She looked confused.

"You're in no condition to drive, or to be alone, as I assume you would be if you were to drive home right now."

She stared blankly.

"I insist you please come in to our house, stay here for a few hours, and when you feel better you can drive home."

"I can't do that, Sebastian, I can't impose on you like that."

"It's for the best interest of both of us. I'll put it this way, I'm not letting you drive when you have just disclosed something of such magnitude, to an empty home, in your current state of mind. You see, I would be liable if anything happened to you on the road." He smiled. He knew if he put it that way she could not refuse.

Since he put it that way, she felt she could not refuse.

"Um… I guess. You're right." She gave him a small smile.

"As it turns out, I have the afternoon free of patients, but I do have some business to attend to. You might enjoy some more tea out back in the patio. We have a lovely view of the ocean, it has a very calming effect if I do say so myself. You might find it helpful, relaxing."

It appeared as though Natalia wanted to say something, so Sebastian waited.

She made a face like she was confused. "You… aren't repulsed? By what I just said? I mean, I have to live with me. You have a choice, and you're inviting me to stay at your home for a bit. And you have a child. I just told you I'm a killer."

Sebastian had to admit that a normal human, behaving in a normally human way (if there was such a thing as normal human behavior), would have been more astonished, and possibly a bit afraid of Natalia after her disclosure. Maybe more than just a bit afraid. In a house of demons, what damage could one human do? Of course, she didn't know this.

"I've met killers, Natalia. They usually don't go crying about it to their therapists."

Somehow this made her laugh.

"Besides, the boy isn't here at the moment." At least he didn't think so, he hadn't seen Ciel around in the past few hours, which meant he could be out hunting. Or whatever it is he did in his spare time, of which he had a lot.

She took a deep breath. "Ok. Show me the way to that lovely patio of yours then."

* * *

><p>Sebastian had given Natalia a brief tour of the house he and Ciel occupied for the time being. At least the parts of the house that she could see as he led her to the back patio. It was quite a large house, and one could easily get lost in it. Not as large as the Phantomhive mansion, or the abandoned castle they had briefly occupied a century ago before deciding to live in cities with high populations again, but absolutely one of the largest in the area. Ciel had chosen it.<p>

Natalia had seen the small hallway that led from his office to a single door, which led into a larger hallway with six other doors, three on either side. Then he led her through the last door on the right, which took them to a very large, very sunlit room, that Natalia could only describe as the foyer, as she could see glass floor-to-ceiling windows and glass doors that led to other rooms. The only one of these rooms that she had really noticed was the entertainment room, since Sebastian walked her right by it on their way up the staircase. '_He must really spoil his kid_,' she thought to herself, as she could see every game console she knew of and some she didn't recognize. '_The kid wasn't even born yet when Atari was around_,' she thought, and yet there it was. Gargantuan bookcases holding video games of all types as far as she could see lining one wall, facing equally large bookcases actually holding books lining the other wall. She noticed at least two laptops and one desktop computer, and a gaming chair. "Your son must really like video games," she had commented. He had acknowledged her with a chuckle.

Having reached the second floor, he led her through the first door on their left, through which she could see they had arrived at the 'back' patio.

"Here we are. Please come in." He held open the door for her.

"My goodness, this is beautiful." Just as he had promised. Perfect open view of the ocean. It didn't seem like the back of the house, but she thought maybe that was because she had not come in through the main entrance of the house. From this second floor open patio she could see for miles and miles out into open sea.

"I see what you meant by 'calming,'" she said, taking it in.

"Please, have a seat."

Looking around she noticed the black and white furniture. It all looked so comfortable. She sat in a black chair next to a small white table.

"I do hope you enjoy the view. I find it helps to ease the worst of worries," of course he didn't really have many worries, but she didn't need to know that.

"Thank you, Sebastian. This is unbelievable."

"Take your time, relax, and enjoy your stay. Practice breathing exercises. Let the ocean do the rest. I have some business that I must take care of, but I will be back in a short while to check on you. Make yourself at home."

He left.

Natalia was unsure whether he should trust her this much. She wasn't sure whether she trusted herself in someone else's home, not since Ron. And she kind of wanted him to stay, she was afraid she might begin to hear the voice again, or see the shadows. What if she experienced this while he was gone? No, she had to put that thought out of her mind. She had to try to relax. '_Let the ocean do the rest_,' she repeated to herself. She couldn't expect Sebastian to babysit her, he'd been kind enough to let her into his home already. Looking around more carefully, she noticed her cup of tea sitting in the table next to her. Strange, she hadn't noticed it before. Sebastian must have been holding it the whole time, maybe she wasn't paying attention. Natalia did as Sebastian directed, she enjoyed the view, practiced some breathing exercises, and let herself relax.

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><p>Sebastian arrived at Natalia's apartment, following the directions on the GPS after inputting her address from the initial paperwork, which she had returned to him that day. He had chosen to travel by car because it was still daytime, and it would be less conspicuous. The human eye couldn't spot him if he were running, but with technology nowadays, cameras in the streets, he could not to take chances. He let himself into her apartment using the key he had swiped from her purse earlier, as she was taking in the view of the ocean. He began to look for clues as to where that murder weapon might be. It was not hard for him to find at all. He sniffed it out instantly. Had police obtained a search warrant, they would have had no trouble finding it at all in the kitchen, in a bag, inside a cabinet by itself. He could still smell the blood on it, even though she had cleaned it. '<em>She wanted them to find it eventually. She can't live with herself after what she's done<em>.' Having what he was looking for, he let himself out and locked the door. He had to get rid of the evidence that could put her away from him.

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><p>When Sebastian returned he heard giggling from the patio where he had left Natalia. As he approached, he could see she had company.<p>

"I see you've met the boy."

Natalia thought it was odd he kept referring to Ciel as 'the boy.'

"Ciel has been telling me how fun it is to be a demon."

_What? ! Did he tell her...? ! They are sitting side by side..._

_She seems completely comfortable around him even though... _

_What is happening! ?_

The look on Sebastian's face, if he were human, he would look as though he were about to have a heart attack.

"He's been talking to me about his new favorite game, _Phantom Empire_. Players can choose their character from four races, he prefers to be a demon."

"Oh, yes of course," Sebastian's facial expression relaxed after Natalia explained. Ciel had not missed the look on Sebastian's face. It was clear he was trying very hard to hold back his laughter.

"They do have a lot more powers than the human race, right Natalia?"

"I played that game for a while when it was first released. Straight out of graduate school and had a lot of time on my hands." she explained. "But I was just a lame human."

"Really? That sounds very entertaining." Sebastian asked, now having composed himself.

"He was just telling me all about his guild. It turns out I used to be in the same realm _and_ the same guild when I played. Such an amazing coincidence!"

"Guild?" Apparently the young master had known more about Natalia than Sebastian originally thought. That explained his earlier request for the game.

"It's like a team," Ciel explained, "you play together. Virtual socialization. You know how hard it is for me to make friends in the real world, _dad_," Ciel could see Sebastian cringed at the word. He gave Sebastian yet another devilish smile.

"Aw sweetie, that's just normal for being the new kid in school. You'll be making tons of friends in no time, I'm sure of it," Natalia said as she brushed Ciel's hair back. He closed his eyes like a cat being stroked by their human. He was enjoying this way too much. He was playing on her kind heart and maternal instincts. Sebastian had thought he could benefit from playing along with Natalia's assumption, only now it seemed his master was the one reaping the benefits.

"I better be off," Natalia said getting up off the chair.

"Will you think about joining me another day for a game of chess?" Ciel asked, in a highly inappropriate childlike voice. Highly inappropriate because of what he was, and how false it sounded coming from him, from Sebastian's perspective. From Natalia's perspective, it probably sounded like just any other lonely, innocent child asking someone to play with him.

"Uh..." Natalia wanted to say no, she thought it would be very boundary-pushing between her and the man who was supposed to be her therapist. Of course, that boundary was crossed the moment Sebastian had held her hands between his like a friend would and invited her to stay at his house for a few hours.

Sensing her dilemma, Sebastian spoke first, "I have no problem with that."

"I will think about it." She smiled. "It was very nice to meet you, Ciel."

"Pleasure was _all_ mine."

"And don't you let those bullies at school get to you, 'kay?"

"Thanks for listening, Natalia," again that sickening childlike voice.

_What the hell type of lies has he been feeding her?_ Sebastian wondered.

"Thank you for everything Sebastian. I'm ready to go home." She smiled.

He nodded.

Natalia grabbed her purse and headed toward the door, not noticing the look exchanged between the two demons.

_So the master wins this round. _Without Natalia noticing, Sebastian bowed to Ciel, '_Well played, master._'

Ciel nodded slightly, and dismissed Sebastian so he could lead Natalia back to her vehicle.

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><p>^_^ Please read &amp; review.<p> 


	11. Couples Therapy

***I don't own Kuroshitsuji.* **

**Thanks for the reviews! You guys are awesome! I'm like overflowing with ideas for this story, it's hard to get my thoughts to be linear in any way! :D You guys know how it is :D**

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><p><strong>Wednesday, 7:00pm<strong>

"Please, won't both of you come in."

The temperature in the room got colder with their entrance. They sat on the couch, as he expected, each at an opposite end, putting as much space between them as possible, as he expected. She crossed her legs. He crossed his arms. She sat up straight. He slouched. They both looked at Sebastian, waiting.

"Before we begin, I'd like set some ground rules."

They listened.

"First, I will not tolerate violence in my office. You two do as you wish in your home, not in my office. If there is ever an incident of physical violence, I will terminate therapy. If there is ever a report of physical violence between you two, whether in my office or at your home, I will recommend that you each attend group therapy, separately, before continuing. This is just something I say to all the couples I work with. Is that clear?" He smiled.

They nodded. They seemed to understand the rules of couples therapy. This was obviously not their first time.

"Second, there are no secrets in couples therapy. If one of you meets with me individually for whatever reason, I will ask that you do not share anything that you wouldn't want the other to know."

They hesitated, but nodded anyway.

"Third, and final, throughout our time together, it is of the utmost importance that you remember that I am not on your side," he looked at the man, Shane, "or on your side," he looked at the woman, Mona. "I am on the side of the relationship. Any questions so far?"

They shook their heads.

"Excellent." He smiled. "Now, tell me about your reason for being here."

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><p>When the session ended and Sebastian had led them out the door, he watched them from the window as they got into their car.<p>

_He opened the door for her, she smiled at him, and they kissed before she got in and he closed her door_.

They would be back next week, each with some new complaint about the other, blaming each other for their failing relationship. Couples. Not his favorite as patients, but always so challenging. And if there was something Sebastian Michaelis did not turn down, it was a challenge.

Sebastian had always believed humans to be entertaining, their issues, their emotions, their convictions, all made them at times predictable. _Love. _He thought it was the most curious emotion. When two humans got together in _love_, all rationality went out the window. They consumed each other in every possible way. It was like mixing two explosive elements, and never knowing whether the outcome would be stabilization or chaos. The predictability was completely gone. It made them all the more entertaining.

**_"SEBASTIAN!"_**

His master's call brought him out of his thoughts, and in an instant he was upstairs in the patio at his master's side.

It wasn't that Ciel was helpless (he wasn't). It wasn't that he was still a young demon (young demons were still extremely difficult to kill). It was the way his master had called out to him. His voice. It was a mixture of terror and…. annoyance? Odd combination, he thought.

Having made sure his master was unhurt, Sebastian looked upon the source of Ciel's annoyance/terror... or was it terror/annoyance, and immediately and inexplicably (out of habit) he stood between his master and the source of his discomfort.

"Oh. It's _you_." Sebastian looked at the thing before him with disgust.

The 'thing' before them closed his eyes, readjusting his glasses back to position with his scythe, before returning Sebastian's look.

"William Spears. It's been so long. What a dubious pleasure. What the hell are you doing here, if I may ask?"

"Demon," he acknowledged Sebastian, "Hm, shame," he said looking over at Ciel. This made Sebastian's stance in front of his master more defensive, slightly pushing Ciel further back behind him. William smirked.

"It has been long, though not long enough." William responded in a silken voice, closing his eyes once again, readjusting his glasses, once again. "Believe me, I take no pleasure in lowering myself to the level of socializing with _noxious beasts_."

"He asked you a question." Ciel's voice betrayed him, revealing he truly was frightened. He had not encountered shinigami in this part of his life, as a demon. He didn't know anything more about them than what he had learned in his human life, only that they hated demons, and that Sebastian hated them. Ciel logically concluded that he must hate shinigami as well. But he was not yet strong enough to face one on his own, should the need arise. He realized he had been stealing many souls from the shinigami for the past 122 years. Hence his slight experience of fright.

"I am only here to deliver a message from _higher up._"

Ciel's eyes widened. "_Higher up_? You mean…"

"No, not _that_ 'higher up'," William shook his head. Young demons were so stupid. "As if anything that 'higher up' would ever bother to communicate with the likes of you," his last sentence was mostly to himself, but both demons heard his words crystal clear.

William took a deep breath before continuing. "First, because you have been exposed to it, and _only_ because you have been exposed to it, I must debrief you on the case of the human by the name of Natalia Lucas. I am well aware that you are well aware that she attempted suicide approximately two months ago, through means that would have certainly been fatal to any human. As you must be well aware, it is a Shinigami's job to pass judgment on the person in question and decide whether they should live or die. Once judgment has been passed, in the majority cases, we collect the soul of the deceased and that's the end of that." William had said all this in one single breath. Which was why he now had to stop to catch his breath again.

"As I was saying, in the case of the human named Natalia Lucas, upon passing judgment, it was decided that her soul was not ready to be collected yet."

Ciel listened attentively. Sebastian was pensive.

William was about to continue, but Sebastian interrupted.

"Why are you telling us this? Surely it is against your rules to disclose such information about any one specific individual. Unless of course, disclosing this information would benefit your reason for allowing, or _wanting_ her to continue to exist." Sebastian chuckled, _talk about a self-fulfilling prophecy_, he thought to himself.

He continued, "If memory serves me right, you death gods only allow one on the brink of death to continue living in the rare circumstance that their continued existence would be of some benefit to the world." It made sense to Sebastian now, he had suspected as much when Natalia first told him about what she believed to be her visual hallucination.

He knew he was right when William neither confirmed nor denied his assertion. William simply continued to look upon Sebastian as though he were a piece of scum.

"I am here to deliver the message," He cleared his throat. "'_Do not interfere_.' Simply put, we cannot say that there will not be consequences if you do."

"Isn't that a double negative? Would it not have simplified our lives if you'd simply passed along your so-called warning and moved on?" Ciel mocked, trying to make himself seem less frightened than he was.

William looked at his watch, ignoring Ciel. "Hmm. Time already." He turned back to the two demons. "The message has been delivered. My part here is done, for now. I do hope I don't have to warn you twice." With that he disappeared back into the black star-filled night sky.

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><p>Hope you like! Read and Review, pretty please! ^_^<p> 


	12. Teenage Sensation

**I can't stop writing guys, even though I have tons of other things to do, I like, love writing this! Aahh! *Blushes***

***I don't own Kuroshitsuji or any of its characters. Or any of the other characters from literature mentioned.***

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><p><strong>Thursday, at approximately 4:00pm:<strong>

Ciel had just arrived home from school, angry and annoyed as usual. Those kids at school... ugh... He had also been thinking about what William Spears had said the day before. He wanted to ask Sebastian what their plan was now, or if it changed anything at all. Should they withdraw? But since when was Ciel one to withdraw from anything, especially from a game as interesting as this? Because surely a game without thrills is no fun at all. Why was he so hesitant to face the shinigami, didn't he always have Sebastian in his corner? He knew within himself that he was not strong enough to face the shinigami alone if it came down to that. Maybe he had grown too dependent on Sebastian, and had neglected to learn other skills any demon should possess. He needed to talk to his butler and mentor, but Sebastian had refused to talk about it last night, instead telling his master that he shouldn't worry about it. The result: Ciel had worried about it all day at school. Not that he needed to pay attention to anything the professors said, after all his schooling during his human life, plus what would amount to half a century of middle school as a demon, he was an expert at every subject, with the exception of physical education and dance.

He heard noise from the entertainment room. Assuming it was Sebastian, he walked there to ask... no, to order the elder demon to discuss the situation.

"Sebastian, what are we going to do about…"

Ciel stopped moving, letting his backpack drop to the floor, gaping at what he saw.

Sebastian sat on the white couch, in the entertainment room, in front of the 64" screen television.

_["Girl looking out window: About three things I was absolutely positive. _

_First, Edward was a vampire. _

_Second, there was a part of him, and I didn't know how dominant that part might be, that thirsted for my blood. _

_And third, I was unconditionally and irrevocably in love with him..."]_

"Sebastian? _What the_ _fuck_ are you watching? And most importantly, _WHY_?"

Sebastian, finally noticing his master, quickly turned off the television with the remote, and turned, smiling, standing up to face his master.

"I'm sorry, young master. I was doing some research for my next patient. She is a fan of the teenage sensation and she's mentioned it quite a few times during our sessions, so naturally, I-"

"You're doing homework for your patients now? Did we pay for your doctorate degree and for someone to write your doctoral thesis, for you to sit around and watch _Twilight_*?" Ciel was enraged.

"Forgive me master… you seem more upset than the situation would warrant… is something bothering you? Besides me watching a bad movie?" Sebastian remained calm, as usual.

Ciel let out a little growl, which rather than making him scary, made him a bit funny. It was a growl that would make Natalia exclaim '_Awww_,' or so Sebastian thought. "All the stupid girls in my school read those stupid books, talk about the stupid movies… today someone asked me what _team_ I'm in… as if that means anything… it took all my effort not to kill that kid on the spot!" Ciel was rabidly upset. Sebastian held back laughter.

"It sounds like someone was reaching out to you, young master."

"What the hell do you mean?"

"Well, it is my understanding that when humans talk about their interests, they tend to do so in order to establish some kind of connection. And with all due respect, young master, your choice of clothing today would invite such questions." It had been a few decades since Ciel had been dressing himself.

Ciel looked down at the t-shirt he was wearing. He saw what Sebastian meant upon encountering the pale faces of the vampire clan from that "movie" Sebastian had been watching.

"Why did you buy me this t-shirt? I ordered you to get me something vampire or zombie related so I could blend in!"

"Which is exactly what I did, young master. You should have been more specific."

"Whatever." Ciel said, turning away from his butler. Sebastian raised an eyebrow, surprised at how much his young master had acculturated to this decade's generation in terms of language. He had been using slang much more often too. Just the other day he could have sworn he overheard his master exclaiming the acronym "O.M.G." into a microphone connected to one of his computers. Sebastian had heard his patient, Cyd, using that acronym once or twice. He had looked it up on the Internet. He had to admit, it sounded more pleasant than the actual words they stood for, since Sebastian never quite found that _third_ word to roll off his tongue so easily. Cyd had also been the one to mention the movie he was watching, which he was not enjoying in the least, but had promised the girl he would watch it at some point. He had suddenly found himself with an hour to fill after one of his patients cancelled due to some emergency. Although he enjoyed new technology which allowed him to see the picture on the screen clear as day, and to enjoy many things he could not during most of his life (like watching cat videos on "youtube" from his computer any time he wanted-still not better than the real thing), he was not enjoying the movie, so he was using the fast-forward option quite a bit.

Sebastian looked at his master. The master truly had been made an unwilling demon much too young. He was stuck, like a rock in a river, watching life flow past him, knowing he could never truly be a part of his current cohort. Because of his age, even though he had matured in his human life a lot more quickly than any other child, Ciel was also stuck in that period of development forever. That period being the process of growing up. He forever reached out to others who could change, devouring them, in an effort to grasp what he himself could never have, while simultaneously isolating from them as he had in his human years. Sebastian suspected it was also the reason for his master being so restless and at times even spontaneous in his decisions, such as his decision to return to school this year.

"What are we going to do about the shinigami's warning?" Ciel asked, changing the subject and looking up to the elder demon expecting him to have the right answer.

Sebastian was surprised his master was asking him rather than giving orders. He thought about it for exactly two minutes before responding.

"Nothing." He smiled. "If anything that makes for a more interesting game, do you not think so, master?"

Ciel nodded, but could not help feeling uneasy.

"Please, don't worry yourself over the shinigami. It is in their nature to try to instill fear in those they find intimidating." Sebastian was trying to comfort his master, even though he himself had to wonder what the shinigami would do should they continue with their game. He had never been in that predicament before, wanting to steal a soul that was already partially claimed by the death gods.

"I'm going to my room upstairs," Ciel said, "please wait until I am far enough away before continuing your_ homework,"_ he smirked.

"Yes, young master," Sebastian responded, smiling.

By exactly 5 o'clock, Sebastian had finished skipping through the movie, just in time for his patient Cyd to appear at his office door, tears streaming down her blue eyes.

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><p>*I don't own Twilight either.* Ew.<p>

Full circle, right back to Cyd! Can't believe I'm already on Ch. 12. Thanks for reading ^_^! Please R&R, and I again, I welcome constructive criticism.

Some people have been asking about Grell... for now let's just say that I LOVE Grell, and wouldn't it be super fun if he showed up? ;P


	13. Happiness

**I don't own Kuroshitsuji or its characters, any of them.**

**I'm glad you guys found the last chapter funny. I wanted to give you, and myself, some comic relief before it gets darker... and it gets darker...**

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><p><strong>Friday, 6:00PM<strong>

Sebastian was still thinking over the session with Cyd. The girl had shown up the day before, bawling. Her family was moving away, and she was losing everything she knew. She was also sad at having to terminate therapy with him, as Dr. Michaelis had been one of the few people in her life whom Cyd felt comfortable talking to. Her parents were neglectful. Her best friend had died. She had trust issues. She was now devastated.

He was currently trying to find another psychologist for the girl to work with. He had actually enjoyed working with her, as she wasn't all that annoying and her issues were not all that trivial. As with every patient, he had thought of the possibility of taking her soul to Ciel, but upon assessment and discussion with his master, Ciel had declined it, stating she did not sound that delightful. So, he had taken the true healer route and invested quite a bit of effort in getting her mentally stable again, but there was still much work to be done. Hence his current efforts in finding her a good psychologist closer to her future location who could actually continue helping the girl.

He had spent all day making calls, except when he had to see his other patients. One of them, Bobby, a teenage boy with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, who had required much of his attention and was still in the early stages of his treatment, so there had been much work to be done (Ciel had declined his soul as well). The other, Carla, the housewife with absolutely no problems in her life, and who today had shown up complaining about the shade of green she wanted her lawn to be. He had ended Carla's session at 2:50pm, and immediately began to make phone calls again, hoping to find someone with availability, who was suitable to work with Cyd, which was proving to be harder than he thought it should have been. He would have to give that up soon, as he was also now expecting Natalia, who had called to move her appointment up to 6:00pm. Not to mention, he still had to complete Ciel's homework and then go out and find something for his master to snack on. Sebastian found himself swamped with tasks.

He heard her car pull up to the driveway. At that moment he realized he had forgotten to bring in the usual refreshments, and had neglected to prepare some tea, just in case she needed it. It was too late now, he could hear her footsteps approaching his office door. He opened it before she even knocked.

"Hi," her greeting was short.

He smiled. "Natalia. Come in."

She did as he asked, and sat in the chair.

They sat in a strangely awkward silence as she looked at him with an expression he could not comprehend. She was thinking of something, he was trying to figure it out.

"I've been thinking a lot about exposure therapy. You said we would begin this week. I'm... not sure if I'm ready for that yet..."

"Hm. I see. What makes you think you aren't ready?"

She took a deep breath. "I don't really remember much about the incident. Exposure... or imaginal exposure, right?" he nodded, "would require of me to discuss everything in detail, and I don't remember. It seems like it would be a waste of time."

He couldn't believe this. She was still resisting him. He had to admit he was annoyed. He wasn't having the best of days.

"Hm. I don't know that that's true. I'm not entirely sure you believe that."

She averted eye contact.

"Could it be perhaps that you are _afraid_ that you might start to remember?"

Another deep breath. She was definitely nervous.

"It's just that I believe that some things are in the subconscious for a reason. I believe that... it's a survival mechanism. If we didn't suppress certain events, we would... _I_ would not be able to live with myself. I don't want to remember how I killed Ron. You understand that, don't you?"

He nodded. "The purpose of imaginal exposure is not to make you remember those details. It is to help you become habituated to what memory you do have. To get used to it, so to speak, so that these feelings of guilt and shame, and your thoughts of self-harm, would decrease. It's to help you be able to look upon what you do remember simply as what it is, a memory. Something that you should _not_ be afraid of."

She still didn't seem convinced. They sat in silence again. His true reason of course, was not to help her get over her trauma, but to make it more pronounced. His intention was not to habituate her, but to increase those precise feelings that he had mentioned. Not habituation, but cultivation.

"I had another dream last night." Changing the subject. He allowed it for now.

"It was... different."

"How so?"

"It wasn't a nightmare. It was a dream. A wonderful dream to be precise." She said it as though she had never had a wonderful dream before.

"Tell me more."

She blushed and looked downward. He could see her eyes smiling.

"It was um... about Ronald. I dreamt that I woke up in the middle of the night to his embrace." She smiled. There was something about what she had just said that he didn't like. Not just that she was _happy_. She didn't smell as good when she was _happy_. He couldn't put his finger on it...

"A dream within a dream I suppose you'd call it. I dreamt that I was asleep, and I woke up, and there he was, with his arms around me. It was as though nothing had happened. As though I'd never..." she trailed off and shook her head before continuing. "He said 'good night, babe,' and kissed my neck, as he used to in life... It was _so_ vivid." At this point she did become almost tearful.

"You loved him?"

"Yes."

"What was it about Ron that you loved so much?" He always enjoyed talking to humans about what they thought love was, and why they thought they felt love. Such a strong emotion, yet they could never give him a straight answer. Natalia was no different.

"I suppose... his personality. He was fun to be around, spontaneous. He was kind, a complete gentleman. He could come off as a bit immature at times, but that really only made him more endearing. He was _so_ intelligent. He was a genius really. I admired that. He was a family man, and I loved that. He took care of his mother while she was in the hospital and his father had left them, even though he was working on his doctoral thesis at the time. And he had so many friends... I never met them, but Ron would always be helping them at the lab, they worked so much overtime."

"He sounds like a fine young man." Too good to be true. He wondered if Natalia was exaggerating some of her deceased fiancé's qualities. People in love tended to do that.

"He was. He really was..."

Her look darkened then, as though some thought had just occurred to her, and when she looked at Sebastian at that moment, for a fraction of a second, he thought he saw something in her eyes, which quickly dissipated. Sebastian had seen that look of determination before on certain humans in the past, including Ciel. It was the look humans got when they resolved to make a contract with him, when they had resolved to give up their souls to eternal pain in exchange for something else, because life was no longer worth living if they didn't. He thought he saw the look humans get when they want, no, _crave_ pain, because they can no longer feel anything else. He saw that look in his patients who were cutters, self-mutilators, suicidal. It was only a glimpse, but he knew what he saw. He knew that tonight, Natalia would attempt suicide again.

And, well... that just made his day.


	14. Second Attempt

***I don't own Kuroshitsuji. Or any of the characters.***

**So... I've been dropping hints here and there regarding Natalia's fiancé, and it will come up now! He is a big part of why she is the way she is. If you have caught the "hints" and/or have questions about him, your answer lies in the chapter below... ;)**

**Story Forecast: Cloudy with a chance of thunderstorms, darker in the coming weeks, most likely. Now I get to write more about Natalia's current life, the shit that goes on in her mind. I love writing her! Muahahah ^_^ FYI, there's flashbacks below. I hope it's clear where the flashbacks end and the present begins.**

**Just some points, because as a first-time fanfic writer I'm being extremely careful not to make her into a Mary Sue, but you guys absolutely have to tell me like, the moment, if she becomes Mary Sue-esque even just a little... since as the writer I may be biased and I may not see it. A few points I want to clarify, despite what this chapter might indicate: ****not everyone wants her, she's not important in the grand scheme of things, she's never gonna be "the key" to anything, her soul is not "pure", she's not this perfect/fearless/courageous woman, she's not a princess, her beauty is not spoken of throughout the land, etc., etc... And she won't be oh-so-happy with Sebastian, and although this is mainly a Seb/Nat story, it's not a "Seb-falls-in-love-and-she-changes-him" story at all. He ain't changing ;) [why would he, we love him just the way he is! ;)]. I don't see demons falling in love so much as being curious about how it works with humans, possibly obsessed... we've seen him obsessed with human Ciel and (SPOILERS) jealous when Claude even breathed on Ciel's space, pretty much... So IDK...**

**So PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE let me know the moment I make a mistake like that! Pretty please with cherries and chocolate chips, and shit like that on the top! ^_^**

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><p><strong>Friday night.<strong>

Natalia drove back home, fixed on her resolve. She could tell Sebastian had seemed happy to see her. She believed he probably thought she was getting better. She believed he didn't know how she hid her emotions, her self-hatred, the feelings that had been eating at her slowly from the second she had opened her eyes and seen Ron's bloodied body, glasses broken as he lay face down on the concrete floor of his house. The little voice in the back of her mind that whispered constantly _you did this._

_Ugly. Horrible. Haunted. Shadow of the woman I used to be._

That is how she perceived herself. That is what the voice said. This wasn't the voice that had haunted her for those months leading up to, and then abandoned her after completing, the deed. This was her own voice, things she repeated to herself over, and over, and over. A broken record of the memories of that night replayed in her mind as she drove home...

She vaguely remembered crying over his body as she held him to her chest, at first thinking she was still in her nightmare and that she would soon wake up. Then the blood had seemed so real, so vivid, and she realized that she wasn't waking up. It wasn't a nightmare.

She let Ron's body slip from her arms as she stood up and looked down upon it. She remembered she grabbed the knife that was next to Ron's body. The once perfectly silver metal was now a dark shade of red. She remembered quickly looking around the room for fingerprints and wiping all the things her bloodied fingers may have touched. She had not bothered with the objects around the house. As his fiancee, it would not be uncommon if her fingerprints were present throughout. And if the police happened to find even one portion of a bloodied fingerprint of hers, well then, she would get what she deserved.

She remembered changing clothes, throwing her blood-spattered white nightgown into a plastic bag and throwing it into her suitcase. She could still see the blood sometimes when she closed her eyes. She never again wore white.

She had driven home unnoticed. Ron's neighbors were elderly, and did not hear her turn on her car, or even notice that she had been there for the past two days, or had it been three? She had trouble remembering.

She had gotten home, thrown the plastic bag with the blood splattered contents into the fireplace, and turned it on, destroying it in the fire. She had called Stefan in a hysteria, who then acquired two Vicodin, 5mg each, from his partner, Phil. Stefan had not understood a word Natalia had said over the phone, and she was not sure what it was she had been saying exactly either. Everything was such a blur.

Ron's housekeeper would arrive in the morning to find his body.

Her mind then went to the events of the following morning...

She had fallen asleep on the couch. Stefan had kept watch over her, and Phil had come over early in the morning to see what she needed. It was as Phil was making scrambled eggs, which he was going to force her to eat because she needed something in her stomach besides Vicodin, that the doorbell rang, and it was the police. She was still hopeful that it had all been just one big delusion, given her recent hallucinations. But as the officers in her living room spoke, and everything became real, it was just too much...

She vaguely remembered Phil introducing himself as a psychiatrist and her friend, establishing his authority in the room, and she understood that both Phil and Stefan had told the police their story; Stefan had been there all night after a phone call, which Phil had been witness to, and then Phil had come over in the morning. They did not yet know the exact time of death, but they estimated sometime between 3 and 5 o'clock in the morning. Natalia phoned closer to one in the morning, and Stefan had his cell phone log to prove it. With a solid alibi, they did not suspect her then.

_Why didn't I say something?_

The following days were also a blur... the body had been claimed by a relative, she couldn't even see it one last time... she couldn't say goodbye... nobody told her about a funeral. A week later she had received a call from a man, a member of the family, that the family had the body shipped to their state of origin, and that the funeral had been small, with just the immediate family... she understood, right? Ron's mother was too heartbroken to speak on the phone, but wished her all the best, as she deserved.

_I deserve to die._

Natalia parked her car now, back home from Sebastian's office. He was such a kind man... she wondered if he would think fondly of her after tonight. She was sure they would have been friends in another life perhaps, if they had met under different circumstances. No, he was a friend now. He trusted her. He was the only one who had spent time talking to her since that event. Stefan and Phil had moved out of state. Even if she had confided in either of them, they would have most likely not wanted anything to do with her, or they would have surely thrown her in some psychiatric hospital.

_I am alone, as I should be. It will end soon._

In the elevator now going up to the 27th floor, she remembered when she met Ron...

It happened only a year ago. She'd been enjoying appletinis with Stefan and Phil, celebrating that she had finally passed her licensing exam, and had by all means now truly earned the title _Dr._ Lucas. It had been Phil who pointed it out to her. "By the way, Dr. Lucas," he had said teasingly, "don't look now but blondie with glasses at 4 o'clock has been checking you out since we got here. He's kinda cute, in a nerdy sort of way" as soon as he made the observation Stefan had glanced that way and given his approval with a slight nod toward Natalia, "Nerdy is what we do best, right Nat?" Being more of an introvert, rather than gathering up the courage to look that way, she had blushed slightly and refused to glance his way until she finished her appletini.

When, by harassment of her two friends and on her third appletini she decided to sneak a glance, she'd felt attracted to the man from the moment their eyes locked. He was with a group of people, men and women, and they seemed to be having a good time as evidenced by the mouthfuls of laughter she noticed from everyone at the table. He had smiled at her and raised his glass, she had smiled and raised hers.

She had been disappointed when he did not make a move for the next hour and a half that she had been sitting at the bar conversing with her two friends, but he had intercepted her exit, quite literally, when the three were on their way out.

"Hey!" He had smiled, jumping in front of her and making her stop abruptly. Phil had smiled and Stefan had given him a discerning look.

"Hi," she'd responded, surprised and somewhat startled. She had found her heart was beating slightly faster. She had seen how much more handsome he was up close. She had noticed how his thick framed glasses framed his face beautifully, and how his hair, half bleached blond, fell on his face in a boyish manner.

"I wanted to come over and talk to you a lot sooner but I couldn't get away from my friends," he extended his hand, "I'm Ronald Knox, and I'm sorry but I can't let you leave until I get your name and number, please." He had smiled at her. His smile had always been so sweet.

_His beautiful smile..._

She was now entering her apartment. She closed the door behind her. She took her time. She set her purse on the coat hanger. She glanced around her living room, dining area and kitchen, what she could see from where she stood still in front of her door. She began with the kitchen, cleaning it thoroughly, throwing any old or rotting food away, making sure her refrigerator was sparkly clean before moving on to the other appliances. She picked up, cleaned more thoroughly than she ever had done in her life. She then moved on to the dining area, then the living room, then the bathroom, and finally her bedroom. She went to each room, making sure that it was completely clean of any dirt, dust, anything at all. She made sure her apartment looked impeccable.

When every room in her apartment was sparkly clean, and she had thrown out the trash, she paid every bill she currently had, and then she wondered if she should write a note, but to whom would she write it? Who would benefit from it? She always had believed it was a bit dramatic, the business of writing suicide notes.

She remembered after her first suicide attempt, how messy it had been when she returned from the hospital. Stefan and Phil had told her they were moving, but they had stayed back one extra week to see her return to safety. She had been excellent at presenting as recuperated, _no I have no thoughts of hurting myself ever again, yes the hallucinations are gone,_ she had said. She had lied, so that they could move on with their lives. Stefan and Phil had taken what sharp objects they could find, or medication they thought she could overuse.

But they'd missed the bottle. The unopened one that was stashed under her bed. "Vicodin, 5mg". She had held on to it, just in case. She counted the pills. Thirty.

_Will it be fatal? Maybe... but to be sure..._

She looked for a bottle of wine, and found a bottle of cough medicine. She set the pill bottle and the cough medicine on the dining table, then took care of the final details.

She showered, dried and combed her hair, applied make up, and looked at herself in the mirror.

She didn't recognize that person anymore.

She decided to die in decent clothing. She picked a set of black undergarments, a pair of black pants, black knee high stockings, two inch black heels, a black tank, and a black cardigan. In her bedroom, she looked at her jewelry box set atop her vanity. She no longer believed in God, or in Heaven, but maybe...

_As a keepsake._

She took the engagement ring given to her by Ron, and put it on. The object she held most dear at that moment in time.

She took a seat at the dining table. Cough medicine. Vicodin bottle. Water bottle, to help it go down smoothly. She was going to do this again, _this time_ -she thought as she took the first few pills- _it will be final_...

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><p>Thirty Vicodin, half a bottle of NyQuil, and four minutes later, Natalia felt her body getting heavier by the second...<p>

Her eyelids were not responding...

Her vision was blurry...

Her breathing slowed, as she found it harder to breathe...

She tried to stand, but her body collapsed onto the tile, hurting her on her side where it landed...

Breathing more shallow...

Anytime it would be over...

Any time...

_If only these hallucinations would stop_...

She thought she hallucinated a dark figure looming over her...

Picking her up off the floor with firm arms...

_I've never experienced tactile hallucinations before_...

_...It doesn't matter anymore_...

She thought she felt her body being moved, then landing on something soft... perhaps her bed...

Dark figure looming over her... getting closer... she couldn't move...

Lips on her lips... harder to breathe... something going inside her mouth, and down her throat... _pain..._

The pain seemed to come from deep within her, a place she could not describe. It tore at her very soul, it shattered her every dream she'd ever had in life. Every hope of salvation, if she'd had it at all. Every fiber of her body wanted to cry out... She had never experienced such a hallucination before...

_Is this what dying feels like? Is this death? _

She could not move, but she had never felt more alive. She wanted death, welcomed it. Losing consciousness... the pain from within was abating... receding from her insides, from her lips... her hallucination ending... the figure separating... her hallucination...

Death had a friendly face...

_Sebastian?_

Her eyes closed.

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><p><strong>OMG! OK, so what do you think? R&amp;R Please! I had so much fun writing this chapter, I hope you had equal fun reading it as well! ^_^<strong>

**Note: NO, shinigami cannot die by human hands. At least not in the kuroshitsuji-verse that I know. It will be explained in chapters to come^_^!**


	15. Visitors

***I do not own Kuroshitsuji or its characters, but sometime I reeeeeallllly wish I owned 'a specific one' of them *sigh*.***

**Thanks to Upsilon Four! For being the first to review Chapter 14! Yay! ^_^. Thanks also of course to: Hinakoki, WatchThisShit, Theworlddreamer, ThePowerOfTheGio, narutofanhinatafan, and Loving-you-is-a-crime :). And thanks to everyone who read it too! I think I got more reviews for that chapter than I have for any other ones, which tells me I did well, yay! :) I really appreciate everyone's reviews for all of my chapters, it means a lot and makes me happy, and makes me want to post longer updates ;)!**

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><p><strong>Saturday, 1:53am<strong>

_They sat on her bed. He sat up leaned against the dark, wooden headboard, she faced him, her legs on either side of his, enjoying the intimate warmth of their bodies touching. She rested her forehead against his. Each enjoying the comforting silence of the early dawn, relaxing. No words needed to be said. He moved then, reaching for his pants that lay on the floor, just to the side of the bed where he sat. His arms reached without the need for her to move. He pulled a little black box from within one of the pockets. _

_"Babe," his voice made her open her eyes to acknowledge him with a smile. She hadn't noticed the little box wrapped tightly in his left hand. _

_"I love you. I want you to never forget that, 'kay?"_

_"I love you too," she moved to kiss him but he pulled away, her facial expression that of confusion. _

_"I need to ask you something first," he grinned._

_"Okay..." she waited._

_That's when she noticed his hands moving, that's when she saw the little black box. Her eyes turned from it, to him. He was nervous when he spoke, she could hear his voice was shaking a little._

_"Will you marry me?"_

_"Oh my god..." her heart began to race. She said, "...yea-yes!" They both laughed nervously then, "Yes, I will!" she repeated. They embraced, kissed. He held her firmly, picked her up gently, and set her down on the bed, careful her head didn't hit the headboard, so that he was now on top before returning to their lovemaking. _

"Ron?" she mumbled.

"She's still a bit delirious, but she should regain full consciousness within the next twelve hours or so. When she does, she will have to remain here for a 72 hour hold, for psychiatric observation, also because we couldn't figure out for certain how long it had been since she took the medication when you brought her in, which is strange enough. We pumped what we could and she remained unconscious throughout, which is not a good sign. So she's going to be under medical observation as well as psychiatric until she's stabilized. I understand this isn't the first suicide attempt. You are her therapist, right? Does she have any family nearby who may offer support, or a friend perhaps..."

"No," Sebastian answered the attending physician who had seen his charge, Natalia, when he brought her in to the emergency room, "As I said, as far as I know she has no family nearby. I don't know what became of her friends. I am of course speaking to you for continuation of her care, but I have no release of information forms for anyone. She refused an emergency contact. I check in on her often, because she has no other support. She left our session today very pensive, I felt I had to check on her to ensure she was alright. She didn't answer, which is abnormal, so I drove to her residence to ensure her safety. That's when I found her like this." Sebastian never lied. He did on this occasion. Ciel had concocted the story.

"Right," the physician nodded in understanding and empathy. "She's lucky you found her when you did. Anyway, you two should probably get some sleep, it's been a rough night, and I imagine it won't get any easier when she wakes up to realize she's still alive. Don't worry, she's safe in the hospital. We'll have a nurse check on her often. You two can relax. I'll be checking in on her as well throughout the night, and if there's any change in her response I'll let you know. And you, young man," the physician turned to Ciel, "need some sleep," he smiled. Ciel stared. The physician took this as a sign that he must be very sleepy.

Sebastian nodded, "Thank you," as the physician walked away. Ciel had met Sebastian at the hospital after the older demon called to tell his master what had happened, and was very upset.

"I suspect she's remained abnormally unconscious because of that little number you did on her," Ciel had been enraged that Sebastian had 'cheated.' He had taken a taste of Natalia before they could come to an amicable agreement regarding her soul. As the hours had passed, Ciel's rage had subsided, and he was now tired of being in the hospital.

"I apologize, young master. I was weak of character," Sebastian said, glancing around outside the open door to make sure nobody was within hearing distance. He was apologizing now for what seemed like the fourteenth time.

"I don't like hospitals. I'm returning to the house. I'll see you there, I guess."

"Master, forgive me, but is it such a good idea to return to the house by yourself? I only mean that there are many people in this hospital who may think it odd to see a child alone at this time of night. From their perspective, that is."

"You may accompany me to the parking garage to keep appearances. I'll leave after that and you will stay here. I order you to refrain from any more '_tastes' _in my absence."

"Yes, my lord."

Ciel began to lead the way, but stopped and turned to Sebastian behind him. "You don't think _they_ will come snooping around again, do you?"

"No, my lord." Sebastian mostly said this to comfort his master, but he did not know what the consequences would be. Whatever they were, he, unlike his master, welcomed them. "If they do come snooping around, it will be me they will come looking for. Not you, master."

Ciel hoped he was right. He glanced at Natalia lying in her hospital bed. "Pathetic," he mumbled. Sebastian smiled. His master led the way out to the parking garage.

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><p>When Sebastian returned to Natalia's hospital room, he found an unpleasant surprise.<p>

"William," he acknowledged, turning then to his companion, who upon seeing Sebastian flung himself at the former butler.

"_Bassy!_" Sebastian missed the redhead's flailing arms by half an inch. "Oh I've been _dying_ to see you again! Where have you been hiding? Oh, no matter, now that my Bassy and I are together again, it will surely make up for _all those lonely nights of self satisfaction._"

"Are you here to warn me again? Because you see, it's a bit late for that," Sebastian said looking at William, while putting his hand up, which just so happened to block Grell's face from getting any closer to the demon.

"We're here for a friend," Grell said quietly, pouting and readjusting his coat, then sighed, "Why do you hurt me so?" Sebastian thought perhaps they were doing their shinigami duties. He noticed that although William's outfit had not changed through the years, Grell's had. He still wore a long red coat, but it seemed to have black fur on the lining and collar, and he now wore an entirely red suit to go along with it that looked more modern, along with a white tuxedo shirt and a red hat with sequins on it. He knew this was what humans called "pimp" and wondered what Grell's intention had been in wearing it.

William adjusted his glasses and looked discerningly down at Natalia, still unconscious, "We shinigami exist to protect your souls. Shame that humans like you should be so willing to lose it." He had not even looked toward Sebastian yet when he said. "I don't see what he sees in you."

Sebastian for a moment thought that William was referring to Grell's infatuation with him. Then he noticed that Grell acknowledged William with a nod and then looked down at Natalia with a sad expression on his face. Sebastian knew there was something he was missing here.

William finally turned to Sebastian, "The warning stands."

"Now this I do have to wonder about. You see, I was expecting and preparing for the full force of the Shinigami Dispatch Association after marking this woman's soul as mine -and believe me, it was delicious- however, you do not seem to be making a move. I have to wonder about your intentions. I have yet to experience any of the consequences that you spoke of. Which tells me that either your warning had nothing to do with her soul, or that the Shinigami Dispatch Association is all bark and no bite. Is that it?" he smirked.

William took a deep breath, clearly upset. Grell reacted when he heard Sebastian use the words "marking this woman's soul as mine..." by clutching his hands to his chest in a way that would put an actress to shame.

William took a deep breath. "The Shinigami Dispatch Association makes no idle threats. As I said just now, the warning stands, '_Do not interfere_.' Simple enough even a lowly being like you should understand it clearly."

Grell now stood with one hand resting on his hip and the other on his chin, as if pensive. "Oh, Bassy, you just don't get it yet, do you?" he chuckled.

"You haven't broken the rules yet, _darling_, so we're not here to dispense your punishment, although believe me, I would be _more than willing_ to do so," he said, leaning forward and winking at the object of his affection.

William turned to Grell, "Our job here is done, Mr. Sutcliff." He began to walk away. Grell sighed deeply before blowing a kiss Sebastian's way.

"And what was your job here, exactly?"

Grell smirked. William glanced at Sebastian out of his peripherals, not caring to turn around completely to face him as he said, "Nothing that should concern you. Good day." He began to walk away again, "Come, Mr. Sutcliff." Grell winked at Sebastian before following William out the door.

Sebastian began to follow them, with the intention of _making_ them tell him why they had been here, or perhaps seducing Grell into telling (he was not beyond that), but at that moment a nurse walked in.

"Mr...?"

"Dr. Michaelis, I'm her psychologist." Sebastian corrected.

"Dr. Michaelis, Natalie-"

"Natalia," he corrected again.

"Right," the nurse had a southern accent, which Sebastian sometimes liked, but gave Sebastian a snarky attitude, which he _didn't_ like. "_The patient_ will need to rest now. You can stay with her, but she's only allowed one visitor at a time," she said, looking in the direction the other two had left.

"Don't worry, ma'am, they will not be returning," Sebastian smiled.

Changing her attitude in response to Sebastian's, the nurse said, "Can I get you anything?"

"No, thank you, I'm quite alright."

"These are her belongings," she handed Sebastian a brown paper bag.

"Thank you."

She smiled and left. It was too late for Sebastian to follow the other two, as he could see they were long gone. He decided to sit by Natalia until she woke up. He had to make sure she would not remember the part where he tore a bit of her soul for his own satisfaction. He had followed her home and had witnessed the entire event. He wanted to make sure she did not succeed in her second suicide attempt, otherwise the game would be over and he would have nobody to play with. He had gone with the intention of saving her at the last moment, but he had not been prepared for the cravings he would have after years of no sustenance, and the fact that she had smelled so... Sebastian shook his head to try to shake the memory of that intoxicating scent of that special kind of depression... and then she had been on the brink of death. He had been enthralled by the whole show, and at the last minute he had been unable to restrain himself. Strangely enough, he thought what he did actually bought her more time. He had stopped himself after a small taste, and brought her to the hospital. He didn't want to, but had felt he had to call his master to let him know what happened, as he would surely find out and then would be more enraged.

So for now, he sat at Natalia's bedside, observing her carefully. If she did remember somehow, what would he do? He would have to finish her off. If she didn't, and he hoped she didn't, she may be different with a piece of her soul missing. He had done this before, savored a soul for his own amusement. The human at the time, a master he'd had long before Ciel, had gone insane the more he became free of human emotion, and by the time Sebastian had devoured most of his soul, he was no longer human, as he lacked the emotions that had made him delectable in the first place. Sebastian did not want that to happen to Natalia, although savoring a soul was his favorite hobby. He had only taken a small piece, but it would be impossible to know exactly what she would be like when she woke up.

"Ron," she murmured again. Why did the name annoy him so?

He thought back at what she might have said, any hints that might lead him to an answer for his question.

Then he remembered the ring. Natalia had put it on before attempting against herself. He reached for the brown bag and opened it. He saw the ring sitting atop her neatly folded clothes. He took it in his fingers and inspected it carefully.

It was an average diamond ring, good cut, good quality, but nothing out of the ordinary. As he inspected it further, he felt an engraving on the inside where his thumb was touching. Looking at it, he read out loud, "Love forever- R.K." He chuckled at the unoriginality.

Then he stopped chuckling.

He remembered. When she was talking about her dream during their last session she said his name, "_Ronald._"

_We're here for a friend_. That's what Grell had said. He had thought at the time Grell was referring to their duties, _here for a friend_ meant here for a soul on the list. But it couldn't. Their scythes were not out.

Then he remembered the name of that annoying young shinigami he had met so long ago, Ronald Knox. It couldn't be, of course, there were many people with the same initials, and the name Ron was not uncommon at all.

But he knew shinigami did behave as humans did sometimes. They slept, they ate.

They mated.

Natalia stirred.

It was William's words, and Grell's reaction, that made it possible for him to formulate it in his mind. _I don't see what he sees in you. _He was looking directly at Natalia when he had said that, with a bit of disgust. Sebastian knew he was missing something when Grell, though looking sad, had glanced down at Natalia as a response to William's words. He would have looked dejected had William been referring to his infatuation with Sebastian, but he specifically glanced at Natalia. They had not been here for him at all. "Hm. Well what do you know..." Sebastian thought as he looked from the ring, down to Natalia.

"Ron," Natalia murmured again. She was waking up. It was hours before the physician had estimated.

Natalia's eyes flew open and she seemed to gasp for air. Her eyes were wild. She looked desperately around the room.

"Natalia," he called out to her quietly. _Was this the effect of stripping off a bit of her soul?_ She looked at him, angrily, her eyebrows furrowed. _Does she remember?_

His expression turned into utter shock when Natalia threw herself at him, and her lips came crashing down hard on his.

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><p>Well here ya go! I had fun writing that last bit ;P. Thanks a BUNCH! Again! Please R&amp;R!<p> 


	16. Abort the Mission

***I don't own Kuroshitsuji***

****I've been told Natalia is Mary Sue-esque and needs character development, and that the characters are slightly OOC. Working on it! ****I think we can agree that time changes people, even demons, and that we don't know what Ciel would be like 122 years post-demon, or what Sebastian's obsession with him would evolve into, if it still exists 122 years later. So this is what this plays on a bit, what I try to explore. Writing is not my forte (that's why I'm here!), psychology is, as you can probably tell ;), so I appreciate the constructive criticism and feedback. And any ideas, let me know!****

**Thanks to those who reviewed and/or PM'd me! I truly appreciate it! ^_^**

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><p>Her lips came crashing down hard on his, her tongue stealing entrance into his mouth despite no permission being given. He was too shocked to react at first, and it was about five seconds before he obeyed his natural reaction and pushed her away.<p>

His expression and his automatic reaction told her how appalled he was, and possibly upset. He did not appreciate that move in the least. Sebastian was not expecting this.

At first she looked at him with an expression of dismay, then seemed to realize what she'd done and her expression softened and became apologetic.

"I'm so sorry, I- I don't know why-I don't know why-" She put her hands over her mouth in shock at what she had just done.

"Hm. I think I better get your nurse," he said, thinking through the possibilities of what had just happened, and pressed the button on the side of her bed that let the nurse know to attend to the patient.

Sebastian searched Natalia's face. He no longer looked shocked but pensive.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I don't know where that came from." She lowered her head and let her hair fall in front of her face. She vaguely remembered, or thought she remembered, his face was the last thing she saw before she woke up just now.

He said nothing. Only sat on the chair next to her bed, observing, thinking of the next move.

"Well now!" The nurse from before finally came in. "So, you're awake now? How's your stomach?" She said as she took her vitals.

"Excuse me," Sebastian excused himself from the room while the nurse tended to Natalia, who watched him go, worried about how she had offended him, and feeling only as though she had been searching for something in him she thought she had felt before.

He walked out of the room, down the hallway, his hands in the pockets of his long black coat. He walked to the small waiting area on that floor of the hospital, which was more secluded.

He took out his cell phone with his fingerless gloved hand- the glove of which concealed the sign of their contract- and dialed his master with the other.

"_Yes,_" Ciel answered.

"Young master," he greeted, "I am terribly sorry to disturb you,"

"_Go on_,"

"She has woken. What would the master wish for me to do now?"

He could hear Ciel sigh on the other end.

"_Abort the mission_."

"I'm sorry, master, you want me to _abort the mission_?"

"_Yes_,"

"What mission would that be, young master?" Perhaps his master had been watching too many spy movies? His master, always amusing...

"_Sebastian, you do not seriously expect me to continue playing a game the rules of which you have not followed. Have you forgotten? You've cheated. I ordered you to stay behind to ensure that that human did not remember what you did. I am assuming she does not, otherwise you would have mentioned it, and she would be dead, and we would not be having this conversation. Now you've had your fill. I have no desire to take your sloppy seconds. I have no use for your patient. Do what you want with her, kill her or not, and then come back to the estate. I have a task for you._" He ended the call without another word.

Sebastian could tell the master would not be in a pleasant mood tonight, and he would not easily forget this event. His master would surely punish him for this somehow.

To be completely fair, part of why Sebastian did what he did, took a bit of her soul, was resentment. Sebastian had grown to accept the loss of Ciel's soul. He had grown to accept the master as he was, and to become attached to him as he had in his human life. And he was starving. When he had worked at the psychiatric hospital, and many patients went AWOL, all the souls taken had been to satisfy his master's hunger, which in turn had satisfied the older demon somewhat. Younger demons needed more sustenance. He had grown to feel some contentment from mentoring his young master, as he had tutored him in his human life. But after a century and more of servitude, he, too, began to feel empty.

The thrill and intrigue of working with humans in their habitat. That was his reward now as a psychologist serving a fellow fiend of hell. He assessed them, discussed the cases with his master, and his master would select souls from Sebastian's patient list. Sebastian was unable to form a contract with another human, as he was bound to his master forever. So he continued to feel as though he was under a spell.

So, indeed, he would be dishonest if he said that his taking a bit off Natalia's soul had not been in part to spite his master.

There was that other matter that had come to his attention. The matter of the reapers. His master would be wanting to know about this, perhaps it would change his mind about -Sebastian chuckled at his master's words- aborting the mission.

He smiled and left the hospital, back to their estate, leaving Natalia to feel guilty about her inappropriate behavior toward her therapist.

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><p>I know this is very short. I will try to make up for it in the next chapter! Please review with any thoughtscomments/suggestions/concerns! :D


	17. Hunger, Games, and a Surprise

***I don't own Kuroshitsuji***

**Thank you for reading and reviewing! Thanks to Upsilon Four and Trachymene for your kind words about the story so far! ^_^ LOVE getting those reviews! *hint hint* But I know it's been a busy week probably for a lot of people who are starting school again... Good luck to everyone who is! **

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><p><strong>Saturday, 2:41am<strong>

It was still early morning when Sebastian arrived at the estate by foot. The hospital was about thirty five miles from the house, but he was there in under five minutes.

He was still unsure about what he wanted to do in regards to Natalia. His master had made it clear he no longer had interest in playing the game with her as a pawn, but he himself had taken a taste and…

…he was still hungry.

He had discipline, he could wait for years without eating. He found that if he starved himself, a meal worth waiting, worth cultivating, would be more than satisfactory. The meal tasted and felt better that way.

So at the moment he felt like a child who had snuck a piece of cake before dinner. This feeling was not particularly good, it was unlike him to sneak a "piece of cake" before his cultivated and deserved meal. But he had been starving for much, much too long. Although Ciel did not prevent him from taking souls, he had not eaten since the master before the Earl Phantomhive, the cultivated and deserved meal that had been stolen right from under his nose. He had not yet found a soul that he wanted quite as obsessively as he had wanted Ciel, or the masters before him.

He now found he wanted Natalia. No, _craved_ it. After one taste, he knew what he would be missing if he let it go, or worse, healed her of her trauma.

Like the Earl Phantomhive, Natalia was full of anger, but hers was turned inward, against herself. She expressed her anger beautifully, attempting against herself, defiling her own body in ways that were creative and… _admirable_?

It took a special kind of anger and self-deprecation to send oneself to hell without getting anything in return.

Ciel and the masters before him, many men and women who exchanged their souls for one thing, gained one moment of satisfaction in this plane of human existence when their one greatest desire was granted. That they were willing to damn something so precious for something so ultimately meaningless was admirable, to him as a demon.

Even then, many put up a fight when he would devour them, condemning their souls to hell.

Suicidal humans seek redemption. In his many years of existence, he had learned that humans who committed suicide chose either the eternal fires of hell or the eternal nothingness of purgatory for themselves, subconsciously. It depended, among other things, on where they truly wanted to go and what they truly felt they deserved, barring any other sins they may have committed in life that they may be judged for. It was a luxury awarded to so few.

He knew well where Natalia truly wanted to go, had seen it in her eyes, had felt it in her heart and soul when it was pulsating beneath him as he lay on top of her on her bed devouring a part of her soul right out of her. That growing hunger was testing his discipline.

That someone would be willing to send something so priceless to a forsaken place of eternal fire and eternal pain without a single reward was most admirable. It took a complete absence of self respect.

But he would not allow that to happen. He would send her to hell himself.

The piece of her that he stole did mark her as his prey, in essence. As a human fingerprint is left on an object when touched, his print was left on what remained of her soul. But she was not marked in the traditional sense, she did not wear a seal that told the world she was his, and he was not contracted with her. He would not feel her as his masters past or present. All that was truly left was whatever was in her subconscious, and the fact that only reapers could tell that a part of her soul had been taken by a demon. Other demons would not know unless they took a part as well, but there were no other demons in the picture, besides his master, who clearly was no longer interested. There was no real demonic protocol to follow. There were however, the protocols of being a psychologist.

He had held the profession of butler, even though it was lowly for a being such as he, with pride, and took care to maintain the aesthetics of being a butler of the Phantomhive household. He still took that care being Ciel's butler and mentor, though the younger demon would never admit to Sebastian being a mentor.

That applied to any other "profession" he took, even that of healing souls, so to speak. Humans would come to him in great hurt, and if his master did not choose them as a meal, or if he did not find them interesting enough, he would do his best to cure them. He did not like healing souls, but his master had ordered he be good at his job, and he was after all, one _hell_ of a psychologist.

He maintained a good reputation across the profession, and was highly respected by others in the mental health field who had met him at conferences or symposia. Mental health professionals knew him in the community, which was probably why Natalia, a fellow psychologist and esteemed as well (he figured, since she did have ties to the increasingly popular and successful Dialectical Behavior Therapy group), was referred to him in the first place.

He wondered now what that kiss had been about as he walked up the steps to the front door of their current residence, entered the house, crossed the foyer, and walked down the corridor to his master's entertainment room, where he saw him in front of the computer looking quite occupied...

Ciel did not glance away from the screen as he addressed Sebastian, "It's about time, Sebastian. What took you so long?"

"Forgive me master, I had to take the back roads so as to avoid appearing on any traffic recording devices."

Ciel scoffed but still did not turn to his butler. He was very much focused on something else...

"AGH! I'M HIT AGAIN! I NEED HEALS! HEAL ME!"

"Master? Do you require something of me…?" Sebastian had no idea what his master was talking about, and held a questioning look on his face.

"_SHUT UP SEBASTIAN YOU'RE KILLING ME_!"

Sebastian was taken aback at his master's frustration and words. _Killing him?_ Then he heard at least four other voices from the computer. One of them appeared to address his master directly.

"_What the eff, Skylar? I'm doing the best I can! And my name's not Sebastian, it's Beastion. Get it right!_"

"I'M NOT TALKING TO YOU, I'M TALKING TO MY BU- UGH-WHATEVER, JUST HEAL ME _NOW_!"

His master truly appeared engrossed in his current activity.

"Perhaps I should go and…"

"NO Sebastian, wait, we've almost downed this boss!" he mumbled that last part to himself.

Sebastian covered his mouth with both hands to avoid laughing at the scene before him.

His master had been yelling at the computer screen, where Sebastian could clearly see his master was playing that game he had requested before. A big "PE" was set at the bottom center of the screen -_Phantom Empire_.

He saw virtual characters fighting other virtual characters in what looked like a dungeon or a cave. Most of the virtual characters were already dead in a decapitated mess on the ground around the other virtual characters still alive, his master included. He could track his master's character, as that voice had referred to him as "Skylar", and the character had the name above its head. His master's character and several others were now fighting a much larger being that looked like a three-headed cross between a dragon and a lion. Sebastian waited, observing curiously and trying to oppress his laughter.

When Ciel appeared to be finished and leaned back in his chair, relaxing, a golden banner showing a small picture of a sword appeared on the screen and he heard his master say, "This is balls. I have better stats on my current weapon. You all can bid on the loot amongst yourselves. I'm out," and then he turned the monitor and the microphone off.

Sebastian moved his hands from covering his mouth to cover his entire face, and turned around until he could control his urge to laugh out loud, _or as the master would probably say "L.O.L._" This thought made Sebastian want to laugh even harder, and he thought he could not hold it for much longer.

Ciel rolled his eyes and turned around in his wheeled brown leather chair, arms crossed, revealing that he was not wearing his eye patch, which he usually did. Also revealing his choice of clothing for the night, a green t-shirt that read "To Kill or Not to Kill, That is the Question," portraying a fierce and muscular looking red-orange demon, or what humans _thought_ demons looked like. It looked like his master's virtual character. The shirt was wrinkled, ah, _the master has never quite learned to properly dress himself_, he thought.

He must have noticed Sebastian's expression turned from wanting to laugh, to giving him a questioning look, looking at where his eye patch should have been, because he said, "I can play better without it."

"Of course, my apologies," Sebastian cleared his throat.

Ciel stared up at his butler with a glare that might have made even Sebastian spontaneously combust.

Understanding that his master was not pleased, Sebastian took a low bow on one knee and held it for a long while before his master spoke.

"Get up. I have a task for you."

Sebastian obeyed. His master stared at him as though studying him for a moment longer before speaking again.

"You've worked with many interesting people. Schizophrenics, suicidals, schizophrenics who are suicidal. I want you to try something new,"

Sebastian listened intently.

"I want you to work with patients with Dissociative Identity Disorder,*" Ciel smirked.

"Master, you want me to find humans with multiple personalities?" Sebastian clarified, then smiled before giving another bow.

"Yes, my lord."

Ciel maintained his smirk as he continued to stare at his butler. _This will be fun._

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><p>An hour later Sebastian was nearly finished cleaning his office, dusting off his rosewood desk. He had cleaned the rest of the house after his master gave his orders to find patients with multiple personalities, and then gone out to fetch something for his master to eat while his master continued playing now a different computer game, <em>and then<em> he had installed a new fish aquarium in his office before beginning to clean it. He had found that aquariums brought a sense of calmness. Even though the house itself overlooked the ocean, a view of it was not easily accessible to his patients in the room, as his office faced the side of the house opposite the ocean. This was the last room that needed to be cleaned.

He was looking forward to being done with cleaning, because he wanted to prepare food for and spend some time with his beautiful Princess. She liked a snack in the middle of the night, tuna or salmon in chicken gravy. He smiled thinking about his kitty. His master had not ordered him to get rid of her, and as long as he kept her out of sight she would be fine. She lived in his bedroom, slept in his bed, played with any of the abundance of toys he had set up for her, and when his master was at school he took her out to the backyard to play with the mice and the crickets. She was such a little predator!

Sebastian continued to clean with a smile adorning his face.

His long black coat and black expensive sport coat hung on the coat rack in the corner of the room, which was illuminated by two lamps atop small tables at opposing corners of the room. Even as he cleaned his office his appearance was perfect. Not one button of his white long sleeved tucked shirt was undone, not a speck of dust or lint anywhere on his clothing. His black suit pants, as always, were perfectly ironed even now. His black shoes were, as always, shiningly polished.

He thought about where to begin looking for humans with real multiple personalities. That was a rarity even in the field of psychology. He had often encountered patients who claimed to have multiple personalities, but had discovered that they were only malingering. Sebastian was sure that if he began to work at psychiatric hospitals again he would find what his master appeared to crave for at the moment. But his master had ordered him to "Find them for your private practice."

That complicated things.

Surely his master was testing his skills as both a butler and a psychologist, possibly as a result of what he did with Natalia. And surely this was only the beginning of his tests, or punishments. He knew his master well. He had been known to "punish" Sebastian for no apparent reason when he became bored, usually with mundane or seemingly impossible tasks. The joke was that his master's "punishments" were psychological. Sebastian smirked as these thoughts crossed his mind.

Perhaps if he connected with psychiatrists he might find someone willing to refer, or who could be _made_ to refer patients with true dissociative identity disorder.

The phone sitting on his desk rang.

_At 3:45 in the morning?_

"Dr. Michaelis speaking," he answered.

He heard someone breathing at the other end, but no words. After a moment, a _click_, the person hung up the telephone. The caller ID indicated a blocked number.

Sebastian was pensive as he put his phone down and moved on to polish his desk. His thoughts wandered to other things he still had to do; find a new therapist for Cyd, work on his treatment plan for his OCD patient, possibly terminate with Carla...

His thoughts then wandered to Natalia, kissing him, but not really _kissing_ him. Knowing that she wanted death, it occurred to him that perhaps that incident was imprinted somewhere in her subconscious, and was seeking for the feeling of losing herself to him, not truly being aware of what she was doing at all. That would certainly explain her seemingly automatic reaction. If so, the game was once again interesting, even if it was only he who was still playing it. The image of her sitting in her hospital bed with the nurse with the southern accent hovering over her taking her vitals, looking at him worriedly as he walked out of her room played in his mind.

As he held those thoughts, the large window in his private office, the one that went almost floor to ceiling in the middle of the room, broke from the outside in, forcing him to turn around. Shattered glass flew and spread all over the checkered black and white carpet, landed on the burgundy love seat, and even fell all over the coffee table and the chocolate plush chair. It didn't miss the aquarium he had just installed at the other side of the room, parallel to the now broken window, as a few pieces landed in the water.

_That is going to be hell to clean up_, he thought disappointedly.

He had heard the sound of a lawnmower even before he turned around to face the culprit. He saw the young reaper before him, standing on the coffee table in the middle of the seating arrangements, death scythe in hand.

The intruder's head was slightly lowered in a menacing manner as he glared up with furious yellowish green eyes from behind his thick framed glasses at Sebastian, his face contorted into a scowl. His white button up shirt untucked under a black coat, black tie loose around his neck, the bottom half of his hair still dark, while blond strands fell even more out of place than what he remembered from many decades previous, and murder on his face.

Sebastian smirked in great delight and suddenly felt very warm inside as he greeted the trespasser.

"Ronald Knox, I presume."

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><p>! Ron vs. Sebastian? EEEP! (Girly fangirl squeal) ;] Please R&amp;R!<p>

*If you want to know more about DID: http:/ / en. wikipedia .org/ wiki/ Dissociative_identity_disorder . It is actually a very interesting diagnosis, and _very_ sad for those who have it.


	18. Mini Break: The Orb of Nhyrr

**This is a short break from the main story! A "Ciel spin-off one-shot" I guess. I had it as a separate one shot, but it made more sense to add it here. It's what I sometimes imagine Ciel's gaming experience might look like in certain scenarios ^_^. He's so much fun to work with! ****The script follows the script from web series The Guild, which is about online gamers, and which I have based another of my stories, Last Night, off of. **

**I just thought it would be super funny translated again to Kuroshitsuji, which I do NOT own BTW. If you have not watched The Guild, go IMMEDIATELY to this link: ht tp. / / www. watchtheguild. com , and remove the spaces, then click on "Season 2", then click on "S2Episode 01: Link the Loot", forward to time 1:50 , and enjoy the scenes before reading the story below. It is not necessary, but you'll be able to see where I got the idea and the lines. Yea I basically ripped it off, but I'm giving credit. So know that the lines are from there so they are not all mine, and that I don't own the characters from Kuroshitsuji. *Sigh* I wish...**

***I do not own Kuroshitsuji or The Guild***

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><p><strong>Chapter 17.5 - "The Orb"<strong>

"Take him down!"

"Okay! Smiting!"

"BOOM! Kill shot! Who's the man!"

Ciel heard giggles from two of the female players. He himself chuckled at Braynzz's antics.

"Measure your epeen later. Link the loot for us, Beastion," said Pinky, their third female guild member angrily, as she usually spoke.

"Pinky, your face is so sweet and your tongue is so sour. You know, I got some pork you can spread that sauce on."

"Braynzz!" Beastion, their guild leader, scolded. "Here's the loot… holy guacamole!"

"Oh. Em. Gee. It's the Orb of Nhyrr! Fuck yes! Fuck _YES_!" Ciel exclaimed into the microphone. Finally! Loot worth bidding for!

"Ohhoho, now this just got interesting," said Pinky.

"That's the orb that starts the new quest line, right?" asked Vortex, one of the female players.

"Oh yes," Ciel, or Skylar, as he was known in-game, responded, "and once you activate it the orb lets you create portals anytime you want, anywhere in the game, with no cooldown time," he explained.

"It has a 3% drop rate," Voodoo, the know-it-all of the guild, informed.

"Hell yea dude! And, I want it!" Pinky exclaimed.

"I can't bid, I spent all my points last week on my new staff," said Vortex.

"I'm with Vortex on this one," said Braynzz, "I'm saving up for another item anyway."

"Taking bids on the Orb of Nhyrr," Beastion announced.

"Wait, wait, I have to see how many points I have left!" Ciel said, shuffling through papers. He felt the excitement building up in his chest.

"That orb is mine Skylar!" Pinky warned.

"Watch it girly, or I'll cut your pretty little face," Ciel responded with a smirk. He was playing of course. Or was he?

This caught Sebastian's attention. He smirked as he walked past the entertainment room, and continued walking to his bedroom, which was upstairs. He was done with his patients, done with his chores, his master had said he didn't require anything more for the next hour, and now he was going to play with his kittens.

He made his way up, to the front of his bedroom, and took hold of the doorknob, turning it slightly before hearing his master scream in agitation.

"I put my points on a blue post-it! Damnit!" Sebastian heard his master exclaim in anger. This made him let go of the doorknob, and turn around, paying more attention to his master's bursts of anger which he could hear from downstairs than closing the door.

He didn't notice that as he let go of the doorknob, the door did not close completely…

He walked downstairs rapidly, hearing his master curse the whole time, "Fuck it! Damn it! _UGH_!"

Finally arriving to the entertainment room, he inquired.

"Master, do you need help finding something?"

Sebastian could not see what Ciel saw.

As Ciel glanced quickly at his butler while shuffling through papers and post its on his desk, he saw something that made him do a double take…

Sebastian stood there, questioningly looking at him, but behind Sebastian… Ciel's eyes widened in terror.

A litter of kittens, dozens of them, were running down the stairs, past the foyer, and after Sebastian!

Sebastian, still not noticing yet, continued walking toward his master.

It all happened as though in slow motion. Ciel began to shake his head, but was unable to speak a word.

Sebastian walked toward his master, the kittens all following him, dozens of them! All over the foyer and then headed after Sebastian into the entertainment room.

"No," Ciel said in a short breath, almost like a whisper, as though he knew what he dreaded was inevitable.

By the time Sebastian heard the little footsteps and turned around, it was too late. The kittens had begun to filter into the entertainment room!

Dozens of the furry little things, all different colors, black, white, grey, calico, brown, reddish… all types of kittens filtered in, invading his gaming space.

Ciel continued shaking his head, and moved as in slow motion in a defensive stance in front of his computer, protecting it from the attack, contorting his face as though in pain.

Neither Sebastian nor Ciel could move fast enough, there were too many of them. Sebastian was being careful not to hurt the kittens as he tried to keep the waves of them away from his master, while Ciel was being careful not to hurt the internet cord that connected him to the game, which many of the kittens were now gnawing on.

Ciel's face was contorted in pain. Sebastian looked at his master, worried for both him and his kittens. Everywhere he turned, cats, cats, cats, gnawing on this and that, playing with the electric cords that connected his computer to its power source, the cords that connected the internet to the wall, the cords that connected his speakers to the computer, his mouse…

As Ciel slowly glanced up toward his desk, he noticed him. One kitten had made its way up to the computer and was stepping all over his keyboard, making his character move in awkward ways.

"No," he shook his head, hurting at the unavoidable pain.

"Master!" Sebastian cried almost in pain himself, as Ciel moved toward the kitten, not knowing whether he would hurt it but hoping for the best for his precious.

He relaxed when he saw that Ciel picked up the kitten with enough care and put him on the ground.

His worry flared again as his master slowly turned his head from the computer keyboard and to the electric outlet underneath it, where the internet cord was connected. He saw what Sebastian saw.

One of the kittens was gnawing on the cord hooked up to the wall. It all happened in slow motion. Ciel's eyes widened, his head shook, and his mouth formed a muted "No, no…" as the kitten reached its mouth toward the cord and pulled it, disconnecting it from its source of power. Sebastian's eyes widened, at his expectation of Ciel's reaction.

"**_NOOOOOO_**!" Ciel screamed. It was a scream of agony, of hatred, of anger.

Sebastian took the guilty kitten away from under the desk and from Ciel's sight and brought him to safety behind him as Ciel was distracted reaching for the internet cord to connect it to the wall again, the expression on his face as though he was being forced to wear a corset.

As soon as he connected it he heard through the microphone, "Pinky wins the Orb!"

"Wha? _**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGGGGGHHHH**_!" Ciel screamed so long and loudly that all of the kittens stopped what they were doing and froze. Sebastian froze as well, staring with caution at his master, hoping to all that was unholy that the master did not unleash his anger upon his beloveds.

"Hmph." Ciel sat down on his chair, glaring up at Sebastian.

_Uh-oh…_

"Let's… let's go play upstairs," Sebastian spoke to his kittens slowly. He made his way to the door and the kittens followed him, Sebastian could feel Ciel's eyes boring a hole on him, as he looked around the room making sure all of the kittens were actually out of his master's sight.

As Sebastian disappeared from sight, the waves of kittens behind him, Ciel's glare turned now to the computer screen.

_Someone will die for this!_

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><p>HEHEH, Like I said, the script is almost exactly straight out of The Guild ^_^, but I hope you enjoyed it anyway ^_^. And I hope you watched the scene I linked, it's superawesome!<p> 


	19. Tests and Orders

***I don't own Kuroshitsuji or its characters.***

**Be warned, this chapter contains some not-too-graphic smut. Proceed at your own risk.**

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><p>"Would you do him?" Ron asked his elder, Grell. They had been given an assignment and were sitting on the rooftop of the building adjacent to their destination, peeping through the different windows of the apartment building, waiting for the time indicated on their list to reap the soul they were there for. He was partnered with Grell on this not because she needed the help, but because Grell found that she enjoyed the company.<p>

"Nah, too boyish."

"What about that one?"

Grell took one glance, "Ron! You have terrible taste. You would not make a good woman!"

Ron smiled. He was pretty much the only one who actually enjoyed Grell's company. One could say they were friends.

That's when Ronald noticed the curvy girl with the long black hair. "Whoa, she's HOT!"

Grell took a look, "Oh, I see you're into brunettes this month?" She winked at the younger reaper. She enjoyed teasing him about his ways with the ladies. And his habits of partying hard and drinking almost as hard.

"Come on, she's hot, isn't she?"

"_I suppose_…" Grell drawled. She and Ron looked through the bathroom window, where the black haired girl was taking a shower.

"Would you do her?" Ron asked, almost jokingly. Grell gave him a look that told him to kill it now before she did. Ron understood and shut up.

He smiled sheepishly, "I'll ask her out when we're done here."

Grell shook her head and chuckled. There really was no stopping Ronnie when he saw a pretty girl. He would pretty much go out of his way for anything with boobs and a nice ass.

"Well, it's that time. Get your engines ready gentlemen, it's _showtime_!" Grell started up her scythe, followed by Ron.

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><p>It was after the date with the curvy black-haired girl that Ron had come to Grell's apartment to share a bottle of wine and tell her that "I met someone." It turned out that after the dinner date they had gone to a bar for more drinks, and at this bar, Ron had caught the eye of another brunette accompanied by two men. He had snuck away from his date for one minute when he noticed the other girl was leaving, to quickly try to get her number. He had failed.<p>

"_Hahahahah_!" Grell almost spat out her wine. Ron blushed. Half the time Ronnie bagged bimbos, in her opinion, and the other half it would be girls with a brain who would not immediately go gaga over his good looks and playful personality, and would play hard to get.

Ron had forced a smile. "I didn't even get her name," he sighed. "No matter, I will just try harder next time!"

"You do have a couple more days until your vacation you know."

"Yea..." he practically shone, thinking about his vacation. Every 25 years, reapers were entitled to a paid six month vacation. It was part of the benefits package.

Grell rolled her eyes. "Oh Ronald, she may have been a prostitute for all you know. Wasn't she accompanied by two men?"

"Yea but they were gay."

"Oh. Well, do what you must, and good luck!" She clinked his wine glass and they downed what was left in their glasses.

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><p>"<em>Ah…. AH! OH YES! Harder, Sebastian!<em>"

The demon obeyed the young brunette. Her hospital gown lay in a bundle on the floor.

She saw them from the window, but it was as though she were with them in the hospital room, watching the entire scene. Her ears filled with the sounds of the moaning and the grinding, and the slamming the hospital bed against the wall… she couldn't take it anymore, she would kill that bitch!

"**_No_**!" Grell woke up from her nightmare, sweating, heart racing, and very, _very_ angry. Why were her erotic dreams nightmares, and most importantly, why didn't they include herself with Sebastian?

She grinded her teeth in anger as she tried to put away the images from her nightmare. She was almost happy that it was just a dream. She kept having dreams about Sebastian and other women, why not her? This is why she didn't sleep well. She had to talk to somebody, her only friend...

_Riiiiing….. riiiiiiiing…..riiiiiiiing…_

"Ugh!" She slammed the phone down when Ronald didn't answer. She could simply go next door to his apartment. She was suddenly very happy that she had arranged it so that the Reaper's Home Owner's Association had placed her right next door to her best and only friend in this, the reapers' dimension.

Not caring to put on a coat over her red nightie, she slipped on her fluffy slippers and made her way next door. When he didn't open, she was frustrated, so she tried the door. Finding it was unlocked (there was really no crime in the reaper's realm) she let herself in.

"Roooon! Ronald! Where are you hiding? I had the most awful dream. Come comfort me in your arms!"

No signs of him in the living room, kitchen, bedroom, bathroom…. hmmm…

"Oh no…" she remembered that she had accidentally let it slip after a few shots that she and Will had seen Sebastian in his girl's hospital room. _That little bastard got me drunk to use me!_ As his senior, Grell (on William's orders) had forbidden Ronald from doing anything about it, despite the young reaper's obvious desire to kill Sebastian Michaelis.

He was such a sentimentalist. He had clearly fallen for the girl, had even wanted to make her his wife, and had wanted to make her a reaper too. For that, there was a long process. She had to kill someone first, see if she had what it takes. It was always a case by case basis, but in this case she had to kill Ronnie, since he was what she loved the most. If she couldn't kill him, then she _definitely_ would not have what it takes to be a reaper. Plus she was in the profession of healing souls, which was not exactly a good indicator for a reaper to begin with. Ronnie had filled out all the paperwork and everything. This was the fourth girl in the past 25 years he had fallen for, proposed to, and wanted to make a reaper. They had had to invade her mind and find a way to make her attack and "kill" him. To pass the test, she had to do this unknowingly, and remain basically herself afterward. If she succeeded, she would be offered the position. If she failed, Ronnie could obviously never see her again, since from her perspective he would be dead.

She had failed, like the other three. Like the other three, she had gone loony. Since the event he was forbidden from even visiting the woman, even if she could not see him. He was not happy about that, but he had known the risks of the process from the beginning. And eventually, he would meet some other girl. He just needed time to get over this one.

"So damned stubborn…" she cursed under her breath. Then realized this was actually perfect opportunity…

"To see my Bassy again!" Her frown was replaced with a smile.

* * *

><p><strong>Guild Chat Channel. 3:45am.<strong>

_"Skylar, are you fucking kidding me? That ogre was practically raping me! You could've done something to help!"_

"Are you saying you can't handle one little ogre by yourself Pinky?"

_"I'll give you something to handle."_

Ciel chuckled.

_"STFU Braynzz!"_

_"Guys, focus!"_

_"Sorry, mother. I mean, Vortex!"_

"Wait, did you just hear that…"

_"What the fuck are you talking about Skylar?_

"Gotta go."

_"But we're almost done clearing this cavern!"_

_*Click*_

Ciel heard what sounded like glass shattering from Sebastian's office. That was strange, Sebastian would never make a mistake involving breaking something. He turned off his computer without logging out of the game, and made his way slowly down the hall, across the foyer, down the other hall, and toward Sebastian's office.

He arrived in seconds, which is slow for him since he could be anywhere in his house in less than a heartbeat. Before he opened the door he heard voices from the other side.

"Such a tragic waste. That window was imported from Italy."

_*SMACK!* *VRRRROOOM!* *THUD!*_

Ciel heard the commotion, which appeared to be a physical altercation between Sebastian and… he opened the door to see the reaper, Ronald Knox.

"I don't- care- what Sempai says- I will not let you get away with it this time!" He said between lunges and attacks against Sebastian, all of which the demon was easily dodging without taking a blow at the reaper himself. Upon looking at Sebastian's face, Ciel could see that he was kind of enjoying this.

"Sebastian, what is this nonsense?" Ciel demanded.

"This young reaper has found it appropriate to come into our home and begin attacking me," Sebastian smirked, dodging left, right, backwards.

"Whyyy?" Ciel grew frustrated.

"It appears that he is my patient, Natalia's, boyfriend."

Between dodging Ronald's attacks and both of them moving around the office at near light speed, Sebastian noticed Ciel's expression of confusion.

"The one she killed, my lord."

"She was my fiancee. You laid your filthy hands on her, I will not let you get away with this!" Ron yelled, still angry, and growing even angrier with every attempt that Sebastian successfully avoided.

"Why didn't you tell me this earlier?" Ciel closed his eyes in frustration.

"I was going to, my lord, when you told me to forget about her, or if I recall correctly, _abort the mission_."

Ciel's face got red as he gritted his teeth. His butler smirked, doing a backwards flip and landing, as always, with perfect precision on his feet. His hands were even behind his back the whole time. Every bit of furniture in the office had now fallen victim to Ronald's death scythe.

"_Roooooon!_"

Ciel, Sebastian, and Ron turned toward the broken window, where they saw Grell, standing in a flimsy red nightie standing on the windowpane, resting one hand on her hip, and leaning the other one on the wooden frame where the window used to be.

She shook her head in disappointment. "I can't believe you disobeyed me. Now I will have to punish you," she said flirtatiously. Ron was angry, but held back. He was highly respectful of his seniors, and that was, from his point of view, a fault in this current moment in time. He withdrew his scythe from the attack position in front of Sebastian, held it to his side, and backed away just a few steps, still holding a scowl. Sebastian smirked.

"Oh Bassy! It's so good to see you again, _again_. I just had the _naughtiest_ dream about you," she winked. He shuddered visibly. A tiny part of her wondered, _if I had a woman's body, would he pound me like he pounded Natalia in that dreadful nightmare?_ Her eyes got glossy imagining… she sighed.

"I can't trust you to take care of one simple clean-up." William's voice came from behind Grell, who turned around, surprised that William had even shown up. He was addressing her. She had not told him where she was going or why, but he was always in everybody's business, and as head of their department, his favorite hobby seemed to be micromanaging and then complaining that they were the cause of him having to do so much overtime.

"Ronald, the orders were clear. I am very disappointed in you." Ronald bowed his head a little, and withdrew his eye contact from Sebastian, to glare at the ground. He was shaking in anger, the other two reapers could tell this would not be a good night for them. Grell felt sorry for him, while William was simply annoyed. Ronald and his love objects always gave him trouble when they failed the reaper's tests and it was up to him to clean up.

_William only has to say one sentence, and Ron will immediately listen, not me_… Grell resented. She pouted.

Ciel rolled his eyes. Why so many reapers in his house? He forgot about his initial fright that he may not be able to fight them should the need arise, and let his frustration overcome him, standing his ground.

"All of you, out of my house _immediately_! I don't want you here. We've already stepped back from that human you wanted us to keep away from, though not per _your_ request. You have no reason to be here, and frankly you are making my house smell like dog shit, not to mention all the damage you have caused. If I do remember, you cannot hurt Sebastian since he's on _my_ leash, and you cannot hurt me because you have no evidence to point you in the direction of needing to hurt me. Therefore, you have no business here. Now leave!"

"Please, be a good puppy and obey your elders," Sebastian mocked, obviously flaring Ron's anger, making him grip his death scythe hard until his hand turned white.

Ronald continued to glare at the floor for a couple seconds, then looked up defiantly at Sebastian. He spoke in a quiet, eerie voice, "The next time you as much as breathe in her space I _will_ kill you, orders or not." Grabbing his death scythe with one hand he flew out the window and disappeared out of sight. William readjusted his glasses and without a word disappeared. Grell sighed, smiled, showing all of her sharp pointy teeth, wiggled her body then blew a kiss Sebastian's way before disappearing out of sight as well.

Ciel and Sebastian glared in the direction they had disappeared off into. Ciel was furious beyond belief, but he was also secretly proud of himself, having been slightly afraid of standing up to the reapers before, knowing he was not anywhere near strong enough to face even one, let alone three. His pride overpowered his fury.

"Sebastian, clean this up." Ciel ordered before he too disappeared out of sight, most likely returning to his entertainment room.

"Yes, my lord." Sebastian looked around. He would have to get new furniture. He looked at his watch and sighed in disappointment. He resented he now had to wait longer before seeing his Princess.


	20. Homecoming

***I don't own Kuroshitsuji.***

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><p><strong>Sunday, 7:53am<strong>

"Sorry, I don't think I can help you there Sebs." The short brown haired, oversized-sunglasses-wearing girl chuckled at Sebastian's request, taking a sip of her macchiato as they sat outside of the coffee shop close to the local university.

Her name was Stella J. She had initially introduced herself as "just Stella" five years ago when Sebastian was looking for somebody to write his doctoral thesis, and had found her through some sort of college underground. He would have written it himself, but Ciel had ordered he find someone whose writing was almost equally as high caliber as Sebastian's. That was one of those times the master had become bored and had decided to send Sebastian on a seemingly impossible task.

Sebastian experienced more than one headache looking for someone, finally finding her. She was highly praised by many of the local university students, as she made a living writing mid-term papers and even Masters theses for them. Her work was in high demand. She owned computer software capable of analyzing her clients' writing styles based on several work samples, and would conform to that style so that nobody would ever suspect that anyone other than her "client" was the author. She also owned the same software that universities use to scan documents for plagiarism. How she had come about owning that he did not know, nor did he care. She truly was a genius. She herself dropped out of college after the first semester, finding there was "no purpose for me to remain there." She was also, possible, a computer hacker. He had his suspicions, but he never did ask. Stella made a very comfortable living out of helping students cheat. Sebastian had seen her small studio apartment, in walking distance to the college. She owned only the basics to survive. When Sebastian first met her, she wore thick-framed glasses, and her hair was short, pixie-like, jet black with purple streaks. Now it was in a bob, and dark brown with bright red tips.

He found her rather pleasant to talk to, mostly because he enjoyed the sound of her soft Iranian accent. At first, he had come to believe that she was either asexual, or not interested in men, as she had not responded to his attempts to seduce her when she had initially declined to write his doctoral thesis, stating she had no interest in doing something like that. He then discovered she was in love with one of the university professors, who may have reciprocated her affections at some point when she was a still a student, and who also happened to be married. It took a few grand, a threat of exposure to the university and the local media, and the threat of exposing racy photographs of her and said professor to the professor's wife, to convince her to write Sebastian's doctoral thesis. She had been 17 at the time the photos were taken, and in her first semester at college. The professor was 36. Even though she was 20 at the time Sebastian met her and came across the photos, that would have ruined that professor's reputation. Under American law, she was still a minor in those photos. When she agreed to write his thesis, Sebastian had told her to pick any topic. The topic she chose was, ironically, an exploration of individuals with Dissociative Identity Disorder.

She was the most useful human he knew, and hands down the best person for the task at hand. Sebastian understood his request was a very different one, and he was ready for when she declined.

He observed her black polished nails, half hidden behind the long sleeves of her cardigan. Her voice was becoming somewhat hoarse the more she talked, he suspected she had possibly increased her smoking habit. She now pulled out her second cigarette in the past 45 minutes, and lit it as she spoke.

"This is so not my cup o' tea dude. You know the limits of my work. Why are you asking this of me?"

"I have a… special interest… in finding these very specific patients for my private practice. I know you are very familiar with most of the professors' works. There is one specific person who's work I am interested in. Who better than someone like you to procure this information for me?"

She let out a short laugh, "You want me to look into _his_ files, don't you."

"You know, when I hired you to write my thesis, I told you to choose any topic you wanted, and you chose that one. I was left wondering, until I did my own research into your… professor, and discovered something very fascinating. He has a special interest in dissociative identity disorder, doesn't he? He has many, many publications on the topic. It's actually quite fascinating. I've only recently become familiar with it, despite it being the topic of my own thesis, that is quite funny isn't it?" He smirked.

She looked thoughtful, "I haven't even seen the man in eight years."

"Don't lie to me, young lady, you insult my intelligence. A woman of your means could live anywhere she chose. Instead you stick around the university to remain in close proximity to one person, like a butterfly to a flower. Of course, he is no flower, is he, butterfly? How do you ever live without that sweet nectar?" This always seemed to be their inside joke. That analogy always made her feel foolish for loving a man who was for all purposes forbidden, which was his intention, he could see she was now upset as her jaw tensed. His smirk remained.

"And if I refuse?"

"Well then, I'm sure that the press will have a field day with the photographs of one of the university's most esteemed professors and a minor in a rather compromising position, wouldn't they? That's just a copy," He slid an upside down photograph across the table. She didn't need to turn it around to know what it was a picture of.

She shook her head, sighing. "You still play dirty, Sebastian."

"I am simply one hell of a negotiator. But don't worry, you will of course be compensated as usual. Half now, half later," he handed her a fat envelope.

* * *

><p><strong>Tuesday 1:30pm<strong>

Sebastian had had a very interesting weekend. He'd had not quite as interesting a time cleaning up the mess left by that reaper, or replacing all his office furniture, or installing a new aquarium, but had completed all his tasks and by Saturday night he had the idea of contacting Stella about his master's special task. With one text (she only responded to texts if it was work-related) that read: "Hello Butterfly," she had texted back within 15 minutes, "7:15am tomorrow. Campus Cafe." She knew well it was him. He smirked upon reading it.

After his meeting with Stella, he sat in the entertainment room bored, staring at Ciel playing video games until Ciel complained that he was "…sitting there like a big asshole watching me play. Grab the other controller and play me or go away." He had spent the rest of the day playing with his Princess. Long gone were the days when the master would challenge him to a game of chess. Sebastian had no interest in video games, nor did he know how to play them or see the point.

Monday had been somewhat uneventful. His afternoon patient, Lindsay, had been quite a handful. He had found himself wanting to strangle her mid-session. The previous week she had absolutely loved working with him and was willing to follow his suggestions for treatment, and this week she had called him "the worst therapist I have EVER seen," and how _dare_ he suggest that her husband may not be cheating on her after all? _Borderline Personality Disorder it is,_ he thought.

Today he had cancelled Dimitri's 1:00pm appointment, and had considered referring him to someone else. However, Ciel had noticed how Sebastian felt about the young stalker, and had given him the explicit order to keep working with him. The same had gone for Carla, his neurotic soccer mom, who he did not look forward to seeing this Friday.

He was now on his way to Natalia's apartment, white roses in hand (he somehow thought that would be an appropriate gesture). It didn't matter to him what Knox had threatened. If he did act on that threat, it would certainly _spice_ things up. Natalia's 72-hour hold was over that morning, and she had been discharged from the hospital to return home. He was surprised nobody had called him about the continuation of her care. He rang the doorbell, expecting her to be home alone. No answer.

He rang again. Then he heard the elevator door down at the end of the hall, and turned around to see two very handsome men walking out of it and toward him; one almost as tall as Sebastian, tan, with dark hair and a thin trimmed mustache and beard, clad in black pinstripe pants and suit jacket with a white t-shirt, and the other a few inches shorter, more muscular, with dirty blond hair, an angular face, who wore a skin tight sky blue shirt with denim pants. They each carried two suitcases in their hands, Louis Vuitton. Between them stood Natalia, wearing a white floral strapless sundress with black tights and buckled heels. Her hair was down and she wore almost no make-up. He had never seen her so feminine. He noticed that she wore the engagement ring given to her by Ronald Knox, and his eyes darkened. She walked between the two men and smiled, until she saw Sebastian and stopped walking. The two men took notice of this and stopped as well, assessing Sebastian.

She finally continued walking. He could almost hear her heart was racing. She never broke eye contact with him. He waited until she was within five feet of him before smiling and saying, "I'm glad you're home." She smiled up at him and walked closer, getting on her toes to raise her arms around his shoulders in a warm hug, which he returned.


	21. That Doctor, Inappropriate

***I do not own Kuroshitsuji.* **

**Sorry for late update! I think it's more feasible for me to update once or twice a week now. I'd really like to do so more often but you know real life can be a bitch sometimes. *SIGH*. Hope this doesn't disappoint! ;)**

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><p>She smiled up at him and walked closer, getting on her toes to raise her arms around his shoulders in a warm hug, which he returned.<p>

They embraced for what seemed like a long moment, until one of the two men, the one with the pinstripe suit, cleared his throat rather loudly.

Natalia let go of Sebastian, still smiling.

"Sebastian, I would like to introduce you to Stefan and Phil,"

Sebastian was somewhat surprised. He could recall Natalia speaking of these two men often as her best friends, but he was under the impression that they had moved out of state. Judging by their suitcases, they were probably here to stay for at least a few days.

"It's a pleasure to meet you both," he extended his hand first to the man with the pinstripe suit, Stefan, who returned it a bit too firmly, but with a smile that reached his eyes. He said nothing, but gave Sebastian a slight nod, then quickly glanced at Natalia as though communicating something only they knew about while Sebastian extended his hand to the blond man, Phil.

"Is it customary to bring a bouquet of flowers to your patients?" Phil asked. His tone was sarcastic and playful, but Sebastian caught a touch of disapproval in it. He was ready for anything from the two best friends of the woman whose soul he was going to tear apart.

"Only those who have earned them with their stupidity," he smiled sweetly at Natalia, who blushed and lowered her head upon hearing his words, which obviously shocked Phil, judging by how big his eyes got and how he tilted his head slightly to the left.

Stefan let out a slight chuckle. "He's right, you know." He looked pointedly down at the shorter woman between him and Phil, who simply replied in a softer than normal voice, "I know."

"I laugh, but it's not funny." Stefan seemed to be scolding her. Sebastian didn't know it, but Stefan had been scolding her all day.

Phil, who had been looking discerningly at Sebastian without pause, took a deep breath. "So, are you gonna make us stand out here in the hallway all day?" He turned to Natalia, who smiled and said "Shut up," before walking toward her door, asking Sebastian to follow, "Please, join us."

Sebastian followed after Stefan and Phil back in the direction where he had just come from.

Natalia's door was only a few feet away. She opened it and walked in, followed by her two friends and then Sebastian. She took the flowers from Sebastian, closing the door behind him, they exchanged a smile, and she set them on a tall glass of water, placing them in the center of her breakfast bar.

Sebastian could tell that not only were the two men very good friends with Natalia, they were very comfortable too. Stefan took his shoes off and took a seat in the living room, while Phil helped himself to raid Natalia's kitchen looking for liquor.

"Where do you keep the alcohol, Nat?"

"I don't have that anymore. Remember, I drank it all three nights ago?" She winked.

"Ha. Ha." Phil responded. Sebastian noted that sarcasm must be a part of his normal behavior, and possibly earlier he was not only being judgmental toward him.

"Aha!" Phil seemed to have found a bottle of gin stashed away in the back of Natalia's refrigerator, and a bottle of tonic.

"Gin and tonic, Sebastian?" He asked, already pulling out four glasses.

"No thank you, I'm alright."

Phil served it anyway before Sebastian had responded, and handed him the glass, obviously not taking no for an answer. He handed a second glass to Natalia before walking over to the living room to hand the last one to Stefan.

"We are celebrating not only Natalia's discharge from her second, fortunately for us, epically failed attempt at leaving us all behind, but also the man who found her, according to her physician, right on time," Phil raised his glass, "To Sebastian. May you always, or for the duration of your therapy, be as concerned for our girl so as to cross the therapeutic boundaries enough to save her from herself." Stefan and Natalia raised their glasses as well. Sebastian noticed Natalia was blushing. The pink contrasted nicely with her lightly freckled skin. He would have to remember that for when he tore her apart.

Sebastian bowed his head slightly and raised his own glass just a little in return, and then drank, because that seemed to be the appropriate thing to do in the given situation.

Two glasses of gin and tonic later the four sat in Natalia's living room, Stefan and Phil side by side in the loveseat, Natalia alone in the three seater couch, and Sebastian in the single chair next to the fireplace, which Natalia had lit up and nobody could understand, as it was hot. She also had the air conditioner on to counter the heat from the fireplace. "It looks nice, it's soothing," she had said.

The conversation had begun with the story of Natalia's suicide attempts, Sebastian had learned a lot about her first mainly through Phil, who apparently talked a lot more after a little liquor. It had then moved to how Sebastian got into the field of psychology, Natalia had told Phil and Stefan about Ciel, the "son" Sebastian "raised alone"; they'd been impressed and Sebastian had gotten away with revealing only some small truths, which amounted to a very minuscule part of the story. Luckily they did not ask many questions, or Sebastian would have had to lie, which he did not like to do. They had then moved on to the story of how Phil and Stefan met, and then to many other topics that were of little to no interest to Sebastian but he was able to feign it.

Sebastian had been rather disappointed that the other two men had shown up at all. It was a mystery how they had known that Natalia was in the hospital, because during conversation it was revealed that Natalia did not call them. They had received a call from a nurse, they said, but everyone at the hospital had denied making the call, as there was no release of information for either of them.

Sebastian had gone to "welcome" Natalia back home with the intention of beginning his game again, this time as the sole player. With Phil and Stefan there he was unable to be anything more than a well intending psychologist who behaved more like a colleague-a perspective he had defended to both of them when Natalia had excused herself to the restroom, arguing that he believed it would be more beneficial to Natalia in the long run while helping her self esteem. They had bought that.

At one point in the evening, while Natalia was setting up and struggling with an old record in an old record player, Stefan had privately asked Sebastian how he thought she was coping with the death of Ron. Sebastian could easily have pulled the confidentiality card, but seeing as how hypocritical he would seem -he was drinking with them for hell's sake- he had to be honest with him. She had not discussed it much and seemed to be avoiding the whole subject, but Sebastian thought she could stand to be challenged a bit more. In fact, Sebastian had learned that Stefan and Phil had met Ron a few times, and had both approved of their dating, after all, they were "so adorable together." However, they both had believed that the engagement had come too soon at only six months of dating, and not having met each other's families yet, but they supposed Natalia was a big girl who could and would make her own decisions regardless of what her two best friends would think. "She pretends to listen sometimes, but she does her own thing anyway. It's so disrespectful," Phil had teased when Natalia was back in hearing distance.

Sebastian had actually learned a lot more about Natalia than he thought he would ever really care to know. For example, Phil and Stefan agreed that her mom was a "pretentious bitch" and her dad had ran off with a neighborhood woman when Natalia was in high school. Her first boyfriend had been Stefan early in college, until he came out and then she became his "wing woman" or "hag." She had finally lost her virginity at 22 during a college party to some jock, and then had very loose boundaries with men ever since, apparently she had wanted to sleep with Ron on their first date, had brought him home and everything, but was able to hold off until the second. Sebastian thought that would explain how she had kissed him before so easily, and how she had easily hugged him earlier. Of course, the hug could have simply been gratitude. In fact, Natalia looked like she had something to say to him the whole evening, but she never did come around to it.

Finally as the night winded down, Stefan and Phil decided to let Natalia rest and called a cab to take them to the hotel they had reserved just a few blocks away from her condominium. Since they were leaving, Sebastian decided it would be proper if he left as well. The three men got up to leave at the same time, when Natalia got the call from the night security that the cab was here for her friends.

They said their goodbyes and the three men took the elevator to the ground floor. Sebastian saw the couple leave in their cab, before deciding this was his chance. He had conveniently forgotten his keys- he drove again to avoid appearing in security cameras- between the cushions of the chair he had been sitting in for most of the night. He took the elevator back to Natalia's floor, walked down the hall to her door, and rang the doorbell.

Natalia opened after a few seconds.

"Hi," she smiled. She appeared surprised and happy to see him.

"I'm sorry, I seem to have forgotten my keys." He turned on all the charm.

She laughed and opened the door widely, "Come in."

He walked to the chair and retrieved the keys. She had remained by the door, leaning on it after she closed it. He smiled at her as he approached.

"Sebastian, I've been meaning to say something to you."

He continued walking until he stood directly in front of her, taking care to get as physically close as possible without appearing overly invasive.

She stood in front of the door, as though she was not going to let him walk away before she said whatever it was she wanted to say. Probably apologize for attacking him at the hospital. He smirked at the thought.

"I have also been meaning," he raised his right hand and gently brushed away a couple strands of hair that had fallen in front of her face, making her heart beat faster from either anxiety, fear, or anticipation, "to return something that you gave me."

He leaned forward to get closer to her, leaving her with no escape, and before she could respond or ask questions, he returned the kiss.

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><p>YES! Finally some action, right? Lol. :P Like? Hate? Comment! ^_^<p> 


	22. Phantom

***I don't own Kuroshitsuji, its characters, or the italicized lines obviously taken from chapter 28 despite my stating over and over again this is anime-based. They belong to Yana Toboso, who is amazing and fabulous.* I am thinking the rating of this might change, I might make it M, just FYI ^_^ *Hope you all don't mind!;)***

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><p><strong><em>::The Brightmore Family Tree::<em>**

Lady Elizabeth Midford, Married to Earl William Brightmore in 1893;

-Earl William Brightmore II, (only son, b. 1894), Married to Lady Ellen Grey in 1914;

-Lord Charles Brightmore, (b. 1915), Married to Sarah Ferris in 1940;

-Harvey Brightmore, (b. 1942 in New York City), Married to Amy Alba in 1983;

-Cecilia Brightmore, (b. 1983, d. 2009), and Felice Brightmore, (b. 1984.)

* * *

><p><em>To deceive prey with sweet words and drag them into the darkness,<em>

_to not notice the demon's concealed power,_

_Skillfully. Sweetly. Quietly._

_The breath that destroys reasoning and allows it to simply fall._

_It's a demon's whisper..._

Sebastian's lips met Natalia's, grazing them for a few seconds. When he realized she was not pulling away, although possibly because he'd purposely left her with no escape, he continued now using the tip of his tongue to part her lips and taste her. She tasted of gin, and sorrow. The action seemed to startle Natalia but her eyes closed expecting more as he pushed her body against the door with his. Sebastian knew that in this moment he could do anything he wanted to her and she would not put up a fight. Her body and soul were in his hands to do as he pleased. He slithered his left arm around her waist and took in her scent, and part of him was glad that he had taken a taste of her soul already, as it had pacified his hunger. He attributed his wanting her to the fact that he had simply never hungered for this long. He continued to taste her through the kiss, relishing the fact that he was perfectly in control of his own cravings. Her heart rate accelerated. Her eyes remained closed. When she felt him remove his arm and his body receded, and nothing else happened, she opened her eyes to realize that she was alone.

She was left wondering if she had just hallucinated the entire event, while outside her building Sebastian smirked at his victory.

* * *

><p>Every year during summer, the Funtom Corporation hosts their annual charity gala. The tradition had been started by none other than the former president, the business-savvy Cecilia Brightmore. Her sister Felice had continued it. This gala attracted some of the wealthiest individuals around the world. The presidents and CEOs of big corporations were joined by some of the top names in the entertainment industry, including those that were considered to be the competition. For one night, they reveled in the name of raising funds for those close to Funtom Corp's heart: children. This included funds for multiple scholarships awarded to several nation's top students (currently only the UK, Japan, and the United States, but Funtom Corp was working diligently on establishing them in other parts of the world as well), funds for hundreds of orphanages around the world, and prevention of child maltreatment and disease. Each year, literally billions of dollars were donated to these causes. The Funtom Gala was a monster.<p>

But it was nothing compared to the Funtom Convention, FunCon. Dubbed the biggest event of the year, it truly was gargantuan. Each year immediately following the Funtom Gala hosted in London, FunCon would begin. It had the same schedule every year: first in London, because that was still headquarters. Then in New York City, then in Tel Aviv, and finally it would end in Tokyo.

The convention would last for three days. FunCon was a bigger monster than the Funtom Gala, as it attracted not only the very wealthy but the average, Funtom Corp-product-loving person. It made trillions each year. It dealt with everything Funtom; the toys, the board games, the candy, the collectible items and those considered antique, such as a Noah's Ark rendition and old board games said to have belonged to Ciel Phantomhive himself.

The biggest draw was without a doubt PhantomHive Entertainment, Funtom Corp's virtual gaming and graphic arts department. It accounted easily for at least 75% of what made FunCon a beast of an event. Where customers got to sample the games from the comfort of their homes thanks to Felice, the current president, at the convention they got to play the full version of whatever game the people had voted to become a full RPG that year, for a very small fee. Besides the games, which was the biggest draw, the convention offered musical guests, panels on everything to do with Funtom's current projects, a chance for people to be a part of the Funtom think tank, clothing, collectibles, unique game items available only at the convention… the list went on.

Possibly the best thing that they offered, that appealed to literally every amateur or hardcore Phantom Empire player in current existence, was the chance to actually be IN the game in their own character. These very lucky few got to play the game in 3D with a three hour time limit, literally being transported through virtual reality goggles. They were literally _in_ the game, first person. It was an experience coveted by all gamers young and old, available on a first come first serve basis, each day of FunCon.

It was the single reason why Ciel now held in his hands tickets to FunCon in New York which he had just bought online and printed. His little demon eyes glowed red with enthusiasm, his lips curled into a large grin that could be considered creepy by some. The aura about him was now visible and appeared to come out of his body in a wave of black followed by red.

He had not been this excited about anything in his demon life, ever, except perhaps when he saw Lizzy for the first time since that day, when he had asked her for what she had not known would be their last dance before he vanished from her life. She had loved him so much, he knew that. When he had seen her years later, she was a truly beautiful woman. He had seen her from afar, from the woods near her husband's mansion, and her name had changed to Lady Elizabeth Brightmore. He had seen her in conversation with her teenage son in their garden, and had wondered what life would have been like if he had not been turned into a demon, if that had been his son and his mansion instead of Earl Brightmore's. Her husband had greeted her with a long kiss, and he had felt jealousy, still feeling like she was supposed to be _his_, like that man had no right to touch her. He had wanted to take her away, to ask her to run away with him. And then he had seen that look, the one that had once been reserved only for him, Ciel Phantomhive. It was only for a few seconds, but it was definitely there. As if reading his mind, Sebastian had said to him, "She did not marry him by choice. It took her years to get over you, my lord, even after their wedding." Ciel did not ask how he came about this information. He knew then that she was happy, that there would be no point in talking to her or even... what did they even have in common then? She was an adult and he was ...secretly scolding himself for not taking her away when he had the chance. Then perhaps he wouldn't be so goddamn lonely. She would have been his heaven in the midst of hell.

Ciel shook his thoughts away and reminded himself that Lizzy was dead now, and there was no point dwelling in the past. Memories were pointless, like he had told himself and the servants that day. Those useless, endlessly loyal servants. He chuckled at the memory of them. He had Sebastian, and he had his gaming, and he had all the snacks he could ever want. As far as demonic life goes, he had a pretty sweet deal. He never thought about going to wherever it was that Sebastian had come from, according to Sebastian that world was dull and dry.

He shook the thoughts away. He was going to FunCon, bitches!


	23. The Problem with Mortal Women

***I don't own Kuroshitsuji or its characters or anything to do with it.* 3 updates in one week! **WHOA GO ME! **I am also working on a thesis and as a teacher's assistant, and I'm working a part time job and a full time internship. Ah, the power of coffee. I felt I should mention all that because I miss the positive reinforcement of your reviews ^_^*wink*. **

**I just watched three of the OVA's: Ciel in Wonderland, The Tale of Will the Reaper, and Welcome to the Phantomhives, Eng subbed. SPOILERS: The Tale of Will the Reaper made me love Grell and Will even more, and Ron too kinda! And in Welcome to... I learned that Sebastian cannot sing for shit LOL (x_x)!**

**Warning: There is mention of sex, probably lots of it, in this one. If you don't like it, maybe don't read it. But it is T for a reason. Again, I am giving you one more chance to voice your opinion if you do not want it to become M, and I can put those 'M' chapters into a different 'story' altogether. Otherwise I'll assume it won't bother the readers, and I'll just change the rating and put the chapters in here. Maybe not too smutty, but if you haven't noticed, things are slowly but surely getting hot and heavy with Seb/Nat ;). **

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><p>Ronald Knox was by every definition a ladies' man. Charming, adventurous, spontaneous, funny, intelligent, although slightly immature but that seemed to work for him sometimes, and very respectful. He was never single for too long. He had always enjoyed the company of the lady reapers, the secretaries in the office, and mortal women.<p>

Reapers felt human emotions, but they could not allow them to get in the way of their jobs. Ronald had been in love exactly six times in his life as a reaper.

He could remember the first significant relationship he ever had. It happened decades ago with a human, a servant girl. He had fallen hard flat on his face in love with Mey-Rin. She was as spontaneous and as up for excitement as he was, and he had loved that about her. He had discovered she was an amazing sniper, and that had sparked his enthusiasm even more. She was also insatiable in the bedroom. Their relationship had only been possible because her master, who happened to be the young Ciel Phantomhive, and his butler, who she had been in love with, disappeared. Her heart had been broken, and it had been his pleasure to fix it. That was the first time he completed all the paperwork, and had succeeded in having a mortal woman become a death god so that they could be together always, squashing the problem of her mortality away. He had often been told that inside he was as soft as a chocolate bar left in the sun too long, and if he wasn't careful, someday some lady would be happy to mush that chocolate with her bare hands.

The second time he fell in love he had been in France. He had asked for a transfer after Mey-Rin dumped him, as he could not be around her without feeling heartache. He had been transferred to the France area so that he didn't have to work near her, and so the Dispatch would still get their investment's worth in him, as he was crap at his job when he was heartbroken. He had met a nice French girl, who offered him companionship, and pleasures that only a French woman would have had knowledge of in those times. She also ended up dumping him months later for another man, a mortal she fell in love with. He had thought of going back to Mey-Rin, but she would not have him.

The third time he fell in love, he was on a long term special assignment in Mexico. It was also with a human girl who'd embodied the scorching Mexican heat. He had told himself it would be different. He had proposed to the woman, sure that if she were his wife the process of turning her into a reaper would be easier. He still completed the paperwork, but when it came down to it she could not become a reaper. She had not passed the test, taking a human life, like Mey-Rin had with flying colors, and instead she became insane. He was once again heartbroken and spent months isolating himself. If it hadn't been for Grell, who had been sent on assignment with him, he may have not known what to do with himself. He had once again asked for a transfer and had been placed in India.

India was an amazing, exotic, fantastic place, where he had fallen in love a fourth time. The woman was Brahmin, and he had been unable to win her family over. There had been no allowance for intimacy, not even hand holding, but he was sure she was "the one." He once again did all the paperwork, and she had failed the reapers' test. He had been ordered, once again, to forget about her, let her family deal with the mess that he left behind, and she would eventually heal. He was beginning to wonder why he was putting the women he loved through these tests, but told himself he did it so that they could be together forever, and somehow convinced himself that it was a measure of his love. He told himself that eventually he would find the right woman for him. If she happened to be a mortal he would just find a way to make it work. He was a god for heaven's sake. Grell demanded of William to respond to why Ronnie was allowed to practically destroy women's hearts, and yet she had been punished for killing mortals, which "amounts to the same thing, really ...no offense, Ronnie." Ron's heart fell at the realization that Grell was right. William's response was a cold glare directed at Grell. That year, Ron decided to return to England.

The fifth time, he fell in love with an English actress. Dramatic, chaotic, exciting. Times permitted women more freedom, and she was as free as they came. He gave himself more time with her before deciding to begin the process of testing again, a little over a year just to make sure he had it right this time around. He later told himself that he should have known by how dramatic she was, by deeply she naturally felt emotions, that the very nature of the test would destroy her psyche. She had been admitted to a sanatorium, where she remained for years, but then came back to the big screen with a bang. The Dispatch had erased her memory. As punishment, his memory was not erased. He could never forgive himself.

He told himself he would never do that to a mortal again, ever. He resolved to only date immortal women from then on. But then by pure chance he met Natalia. He'd been drawn to her smile, but mostly by the way that she half-rejected him when he asked for her name and number, smiling and saying "Sorry, I'm on my way out. Maybe I'll see you around." He wanted to go after her, but was cockblocked by Stefan and Phil. Sure enough, he continued going to that bar every night, until finally a week later he saw her walk in alone and heading straight to the bar. He popped in and sat next to her, and after hours of conversation that had officially become their first "date." She was independent and intelligent, and the context of the times allowed them to consummate their love as often as they wanted without keeping it a secret and without reprehension from society. Not that he hadn't secretly done that before, but this time it was socially acceptable. She was what he called a healer of souls, and in his mind that meant she fixed the souls that reapers would eventually collect, so they would be untarnished and at peace when they passed on. This made him sure she was "the one", despite Grell's warnings.

He did all the paperwork, and she had failed the test. He was faced with yet another incident for which he could not forgive himself. Natalia could possibly have gotten past what he did to her, eventually, with the help of another person in her profession, a good psychologist. Problem was, the person whose hands she fell into was no person at all, but a demon. He begged and pleaded and even threw tantrums and demanded and threatened William to help him get her out of Sebastian's clutches, but William was unresponsive. "If it has to be, it has to be."

Luckily, simply because of Natalia's profession, her existence was already beneficial to the world. She was of some value to those she served. A little change in the world can bring big consequences. Luckily for both of them, her soul was not allowed to pass on because she still had souls to heal in this world, quite a few of them who were children and some of whose lives had great promise; one of them could contribute to finding a cure for certain types of cancer, and another who had the potential to become one of the few good politicians, if their young souls could only heal from the trauma they had suffered. It was in her record that she would help heal them. Only for that did William acquiesce to his demands and said he would talk to the demon.

It backfired. He should have listened to William. That "talk" only appeared to spark Sebastian's interest more. Ronald's heart broke all over again as he watched Natalia's cinematic record in the Library for what felt like the hundredth time, as she succumbed to the demon's whisper, as Sebastian defiled her lips, as he made her feel sensations that, in Ron's mind, only he was allowed to maker her feel, and worse, how he made her forget, for almost an entire half a second, about Ronald.

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><p>"Sebastian, where the hell have you been? I have something to say, we are making plans, <em>I<em> am making plans, we're taking a vacation, a short vacation, you don't have a problem with that do you, of course not. You will reschedule your patients for a few weeks, why do you smell of liquor?" Ciel stopped to pace himself after having said so many things so fast and at once without stopping for Sebastian to respond. Sebastian looked questioningly at his master.

"Pardon me, my lord, if I didn't know any better, I would think you a bit manic right about now." Sebastian stood at the doorway of Ciel's entertainment room, currently entertained by his master's erratic behavior. He hadn't seen Ciel this excited since he gave him the orders to take him to see the late Lady Elizabeth.

Ciel's face became red, and Sebastian smirked.

"Which question shall I answer first, my lord? Let's see..." he placed his finger on his chin and cocked his head to appear thoughtful. "I have been with Dr. Natalia Lucas celebrating her homecoming from the hospital," Ciel rolled his eyes, "Of course I do not have a problem with whatever plans you may be scheming, but I do have to assess a new patient before we leave, if you do not mind. And, because I imbibed two glasses of gin and tonic, and then seduced Dr. Lucas who had quite a few drinks herself. Shall I explain?"

Ciel stared shocked at his butler. He narrowed his eyes. "I didn't mean- _UGH_!" he shook his head and glared at Sebastian for a second before turning his sight to the side.

Sebastian looked honestly concerned. "Is something the matter, my lord?"

"I DIDN'T MEAN FOR YOU TO TELL ME ALL ABOUT YOUR SEXCAPADES!" Ciel's eruption shocked Sebastian.

Ciel realized that perhaps he had been a bit too loud, _maybe video games do make you violent?_ He shook his head at his ridiculous thought, and tried to rephrase. "I mean, I don't need to know the details of what you do in your private time," he blushed and sat in his computer chair, avoiding eye contact with Sebastian.

"Ah, I see." Sebastian began to walk toward his master until he stood behind him in his chair. He knew his master well. He spoke with smooth, kind words. "Has the young master been thinking about Lady Elizabeth again?"

"Don't be ridiculous," Ciel responded quietly.

"I am sorry that my talking about seduction disturbed you, my lord." Sebastian understood. Ciel had been human at some point, that fact would never change. He, unlike Sebastian, was still able to feel some human emotions and desires. Being stuck in his small body for so long, it was nearly impossible for him to find any type of release. He could never be with anybody in the way that a man is usually with a woman, or another man. Unless...

Sebastian suddenly realized that he had never thought to teach his master how to change into his true demon form. Maybe that's why the master could still feel human desires, because like a new pair of shoes, the master had not fully broken his body in. The master had never asked, and Sebastian had always thought it unnecessary. In fact, he may have mentioned it once many decades ago, out of curiosity about what his master's true demon form may look like, but the master had waved his hand and told Sebastian to shut up. Sebastian showed his own demon form when he needed to, to protect his master, or to give someone a good scare, and whenever he did it gave him a great sense of release and deeper awareness. Maybe the master needed that.

Perhaps it was time for him to take the role of tutor once again?


	24. Mean

***I don't own Kuroshitsuji***

**Please keep in mind that the OC's are entirely fictional. Entirely.**

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><p><strong>Friday, 1:50pm<strong>

"Focus, my lord."

Ciel's eyes were closed as he sat meditating shirtless in the middle of his entertainment room, with Sebastian coaching him along, and tried for the 50787th time to concentrate on his main goal.

He had been at this for two days straight, Sebastian had only left his side when he had patients, and to feed the cat. He would have canceled the patients, after all, his duties as butler came first. But the master had ordered him not to.

Sebastian had mentioned this would be extremely difficult, and would take some time, especially for it being the first time and considering how long he had gone without ever trying this before.

He was about to stop when he felt shivers up his spine, as though something was happening to his body. He felt his spine under his skin move, as though it had a mind of its own.

Sebastian said nothing. Ciel felt a tiny wave of energy go through his entire body, which stopped just as suddenly as it had started. The shivers then stopped as well, and Ciel's spine went back to normal. He was sweating buckets.

Ciel opened his eyes to see Sebastian standing before him a few feet away, looking rather… _proud_?

"Very good, my lord. Do you wish to stop for now? I do believe you have made great progress," the older demon smiled.

"Very well. We shall continue tomorrow morning," Ciel said, avoiding eye contact with his butler. He didn't know why, but he felt great discomfort at the thought that Sebastian would appear proud of him. He hadn't seen that look of pride on anyone since Vincent Phantomhive had seen his tiny son run toward him for the first time. He remembered quite well. It made him uncomfortable, such a familiar human expression coming from Sebastian.

Ciel stood up and began to walk out of the room, with the intention of getting himself cleaned up, and returning to his gaming. He hadn't played in two days, his guild would be wondering what the hell was going on that he hadn't logged on in so long. Beastion, the guild leader, would surely bitch at him, and he had no desire to hear it.

"Do you need help dressing, my lord?"

"_What_?" Ciel stopped and turned around to glare at his butler, with a look of disgust.

Sebastian suddenly understood why Ciel was upset. He had unknowingly infantilized him. He bowed, "Forgive me, my lord."

"I haven't required your assistance dressing in decades, what makes you think I would now? Stop looking like that, Sebastian."

"I'm sorry, my lord, looking like what, exactly?"

"Like a father proud of a child's achievement. It makes you look foolish."

Sebastian's expression turned dark. "I am simply happy at your success, Young Master."

"Heh. _Happy_," Ciel shook his head. Happiness was not something he could relate to. He resented Sebastian for that.

"I'll be in my room," he said before walking out, leaving Sebastian alone in the entertainment room. He had his patient, Carla, in ten minutes anyway.

The bond between Sebastian and Ciel, as tight as it had been when Ciel was human, had changed drastically since he was turned into a demon against his will. Sebastian had resented him, Ciel had known this, and in turn resented Sebastian for failing to save him, or end him.

However, in all these decades, Ciel had only one person to look up to, and that was Sebastian. He served as butler, mentor, protector, provider, and although Ciel hated to admit it (and never would), a role model.

Sebastian was the one being who would always be a constant in Ciel's life, which also meant he was the brunt of Ciel's perpetual teen angst and hormonal demonic teen rages. These presented themselves in forms of little rebellion at times, putting his life in danger just for Sebastian to save him, or to watch him fail, although the latter never happened.

Ciel had toyed with the idea of having fun with humans in ways other than eating. He thought, if Sebastian had formed a contract with him, he could form a contract with someone as well. It was possible. But he didn't want to be tied down, he didn't want to live to take orders from anyone, and he didn't want to lead the demonic life that Sebastian had. Plus, Sebastian had the advantage of being able to change form. If Ciel could achieve this, maybe his life would be more entertaining.

He thought about how he could scare humans and laughed to himself, imagining how much fun it would have been to have found his demon form years ago and scared the shit out of Earl Brightmore, make him seem as less of a man in Lizzy's eyes.

He constantly thought about Lizzy. He had wondered what it would be like to touch her again, millions of times. He saw in his mind the way the Earl Brightmore had touched her that day, her skin, her hair, and imagined the many other ways he had (most likely) touched her, even though Ciel had never seen. He grew jealous and angry. He wondered what it would have been like to have grown up enough to do that with her, even just once.

He thought about how stupidly Sebastian had suggested on the boat to America, "if it is a companion you want, we can find a more suitable…" he had slapped him without letting him finish. Talking about a 'more suitable' companion for him? _Asshole._ As though his Lizzy could be so easily replaced.

He thought about this in his room as he showered, and dressed himself in a black long sleeve button-up shirt, dark grey vest, and black shorts, with black stockings. It was a bit like the clothes he used to wear back then.

He couldn't help that he was lonely. Maybe Sebastian had something there with that suggestion, as idiotic as it was. Because even though Sebastian was always at his side, there were some things that he couldn't do for him.

He then wondered what he should tell Sebastian to pack for FunCon, only a few days away. He thought about the task he had given him earlier, to find patients with multiple personalities, and smirked at the fact that he had not achieved this yet. And he thought of what other ways he could entertain himself, at his butler's expense. The young demon smirked as he sat at the desk in his room and picked up his cell phone.

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><p>*************<br>**2:55 PM**

Sebastian's mind was weary after his session with Carla. The entire 50 minutes she had been complaining about some dress that her husband would not spend $2,000 on for some charity gala they were attending in a few days, and he had wanted to murder her so badly that it reminded him of MeyRin.

He spent a good part of the hour fantasizing about the many different ways in which he could kill her. He definitely would, if it weren't for the fact that Ciel had ordered him to continue seeing Carla, based only on the fact that he knew well how much of an annoyance she was to his butler, and he liked it that way.

Sebastian was now getting ready for his next patient. He reviewed the notes he had taken a few days ago when he got the phone call.

The man he was about to see, his 3:00 appointment, was a self referral, and had found Dr. Michaelis listed on the internet. He had said he was interested in psychoanalysis. He was a 36 year old man, and other than "a few life changes I'm going through" he hadn't disclosed his true reason for seeking therapy over the phone. Sebastian strongly suspected by the tone of his voice that it wasn't just "a few life changes" that he was going through.

Sebastian heard the knock on the door of his office and went to open it.

"Good afternoon," Sebastian greeted.

"Hello, Dr. Michaelis," the man smiled and shook Sebastian's hand. He wore frameless glasses. He was a few inches shorter than Sebastian, and had very fair skin with brown wavy hair that covered his ears, light brown eyes, and an athletic build. He wore a brown business suit and carried a gray messenger bag across his shoulder, a strange combination. He was a little sweaty, perhaps from the layers of clothing he was wearing. Sebastian could also sense the man was nervous.

"Please have a seat."

The man chose the chocolate plush chair. He sat rapidly, breathing heavily, and his hands were shaking. Sebastian thought he better try to help the man feel more comfortable, easier to get him talking that way.

"May I offer you tea, coffee, or water?"

"Oh, uh-yes please, water is fine." He had a firm voice, as any businessman would, but it was shaky. He looked almost nervously around the room. Somehow Sebastian felt that there was something more to the anxiety, more than a human would normally feel upon seeing a therapist for the first time, as the man had claimed on the phone.

He poured the man a cup of water and handed it to him. The man took it, smiling nervously, and shaking his leg rapidly.

"Robert, you said your name was, right?" Sebastian asked, sitting down.

The man swallowed the sip of water he had started to take and responded, "Yes," nodding and setting the cup on the coffee table.

Sebastian assessed the man carefully. He was avoiding eye contact with Sebastian, and he had a certain scent to him that Sebastian could not identify immediately.

"Well, Robert, what brings you here today?"

The man took a deep breath.

"Well, I am… the truth is I am having a difficult time in my life right now. I'm married, six months next week," the man smiled, showing Sebastian his wedding band.

Sebastian returned the smile, "Congratulations."

"Thank you- and well, things have been a bit… difficult. From the beginning. She's a lovely woman, but her… needs… are very… hard to meet." Robert had obviously struggled to find the right words.

Sebastian was not one to beat around the bush.

"Needs? You mean financial? Emotional? Sexual-"

"Yes, yes," the man laughed nervously. His body language told Sebastian that Robert was a bit embarrassed.

"It's just- it's hard for me to-" he laughed nervously again.

He nodded, understanding what Robert meant, and started to brainstorm about what he knew about providing therapy to men with erectile dysfunction, assuming that was the case.

Just when he was brainstorming he began to feel _her_ presence nearby. It became difficult to concentrate on what Robert was saying. He suspected the reasons she was here, and internally cursed his master for it.

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><p>"Hi Ciel!" Natalia stood at the front doorway, and bent down to give Ciel a tight, warm hug. Ciel only allowed this, and returned it, because he was playing the "lonely human boy" act.<p>

After Ciel was done thinking about the ways in which he could annoy Sebastian, he devised a plan to use Natalia to do so. Ciel could tell that Sebastian was developing demonic possessive 'feelings', if one could call them that, for the human. He also knew that Sebastian had a new patient at this hour, who would demand his full attention.

Knowing all this, he had called Natalia to invite her for the game of chess she had said she would think about playing with him, and used guilt to convince her ("It was very difficult to see you at the hospital. I'm glad you're okay, can you come over?")

Ciel smirked, letting Natalia in, and wondering how long it would take Sebastian to catch the scent of Natalia in their house, and just how much that would break his concentration. What better pawn to use to annoy his butler?

"Come with me, Natalia," he said, taking hold of her hand and leading her across the foyer to his entertainment room. She was surprised by his action, as he acted much older than he appeared to be.

He could tell why Sebastian wanted her so much, she still smelled like sadness, resentment, and guilt, which he knew attracted Sebastian because those had been some of the feelings he had experienced himself when he summoned the demon.

"Thanks for coming over. I wanted to play a game of chess, just like you promised me the other day."

He opened the door to the entertainment room, held it open for her, and then closed it behind her. She smiled at his manners.

"Well, I brought something for you, that I thought you might like," She said, beaming and pulling out of her purse the new expansion to _Phantom Empire_, "The Wrath of Emperor Daemonico", which was due for release during FunCon (!).

Ciel's eyes widened in surprise as he took it from her extended hands.

"How did you get this?" he asked excitedly, shocked, surprised, happy. He smiled and couldn't help that his eyes flickered that red glow they did when he was excited. Luckily Natalia was too busy looking through her purse for the card with the activation code, which she then handed to Ciel just after he managed to keep that red glow under control.

"Natalia…" he looked at the brand new software in his hands, then the activation code, and then at her, gaping. He was speechless. She may be a more useful pawn than he had initially thought!

"I have a friend who knows someone at PhantomHive Entertainment," she explained, still beaming, obviously happy that she had made Ciel's day.

"I know how much you like the game, so I asked him to get me a copy for you."

"Oh Natalia… this is awesome! I mean, it's fucking amazing!"

"There are a few things though, you can't tell anyone else about this,"

"No of course not," his eyes were glued to the box that contained the coveted software, the expansion pack.

"And you can't do the quests with your guild until the game is officially released. Only a few people are allowed to play it now, it's like in beta-"

"Yes, yes, thank you Natalia. This is a great surprise," Ciel was stuck between feeling as excited as he felt and wanting to control his emotions and appeared composed as he usually did.

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><p>After the session with Robert had ended Sebastian remained in his office, going over what his master's intentions may be, if he had indeed invited Natalia to their house or if she had just shown up out of the blue, and what his move would be now.<p>

She had assumed that she'd been hallucinating the kiss, so he wondered what she would behave like. He had also occupied himself writing his assessment for Robert, who he was sure was still hiding something.

He didn't notice that when Robert had exited his office, he had gone the other way, not out the door that led to the driveway, but to the opposite door that led into the house.

Ciel and Natalia sat at a small table set up in a corner of the entertainment room.

"You're very good at this, how long have you been playing?" Natalia asked.

"A looong time," Ciel smirked, taking Natalia's knight.

Just when he did so he heard footsteps approaching. Something put him on high alert. Natalia heard the footsteps as well, as they approached the entertainment room. They both looked toward the door, acknowledging the man who stood at the doorway.

"I-I'm sorry, I seem to have gotten a little lost on my way out," Robert smiled, looking at Ciel.

He stared at Ciel for a long time. Ciel stared back, something about this human disturbing him. He didn't notice immediately that Natalia's heart had begun to beat more rapidly, also staring at Robert.

He only noticed Natalia's expression when she stood up abruptly, and stood in front of Ciel, blocking his view of Robert, or perhaps blocking Robert's view of Ciel.

"_What the hell are you doing here?_" She asked quietly, menacingly beginning to approach the man. Ciel noted this with intrigue. Something about this man had woken up something in Natalia, and he wanted to see how this played itself out.

"Dr. Lucas," the man acknowledged with a shaky voice, and gulped, taking hold of his messenger bag: a sign that he was nervous or surprised, or both.

He cleared his throat. Natalia continued to approach the man, not saying a word. Ciel's amusement piqued when he noticed the man took a step back in response to Natalia's move. He didn't know what was going on, but raised an eyebrow in surprise.

Natalia took another step, and the man took another step back.

"You haven't answered the question, Robert." Her voice sounded almost dangerous. Ciel smirked at this. Natalia continued to surprise him.

"I-I…" The expression on Robert's face as he continued to back away was priceless. Ciel definitely saw fright there.

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><p>Please R&amp;R. It makes for quicker updates. ;)<p> 


	25. Murder

***I don't own Kuroshitsuji or its characters.***

**Again, the OC's are entirely fictional!**

**Ok, 107 visitors to the last chapter all before noon TODAY alone. That tells me y'all likey ;) (obnoxious expression, I know, sorry!) I have a few chapters written before hand, just waiting for reviews *cough*cough*, that way I can tweak them if you so wish, or leave them if you seem to like ;). Come on, at least two! Pretty please...**

**You can thank rayneamelia and JasmineRiddleXAngelOfDarkness for this one! ;)**

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><p>"I... I…" The expression on Robert's face as he continued to back away was priceless. Ciel definitely saw fright there.<p>

"Robert, did you get lost?" Sebastian intervened, much to Ciel's dismay. He glared at his butler for putting a stop to his entertainment, and for playing dumb, as Robert had obviously intended to go in the direction he went, nobody gets _that_ lost.

Natalia stopped approaching Robert, and glanced at Sebastian very briefly before turning her gaze back to the man.

"Y-yes, I did, I'm sorry…" Robert began, and laughed a little, nervously, avoiding eye contact with Natalia now.

Sebastian watched Natalia carefully as he spoke to Robert, "No problem, I will walk you out."

Despite the form fitting cream dress she wore that made her look very feminine, the way she wore her hair down-Sebastian could see she was letting it grow- and all the other things about her that made her look feminine at that moment, there was that dangerous glare she kept on Robert. The way she seemed to be frightening Robert on purpose, seemed almost sadistic and Sebastian had to admit it turned him on.

Sebastian let Robert go before him and escorted him out across the foyer, and out the door. Still Natalia glared in the direction they had gone.

When she heard the front door open and close, she quickly turned to grab her purse from the coat rack where Ciel had previously hung it for her.

"You're leaving?" Ciel asked, no longer careful to use a childlike voice. He still sat in his place at the small chess table.

Natalia turned to him, as though considering something before she approached him and kneeled down before him.  
>She smiled at him and raised her hand to his cheek, a move he was annoyed at but allowed nonetheless. She seemed to consider her words carefully.<p>

"I have to go take care of some business," she looked like she wanted to say something else, but stopped, and just smiled at Ciel again before getting up, kissing his forehead (another annoying move) and walking out of the entertainment room, out of Ciel's vision line. Ciel had to wonder why he kept allowing her to treat him like a child, and had to remind himself that that was his full intention in bringing her here. How much would it annoy Sebastian if his new toy became attached to Ciel instead? Muahaha...

He could still follow her with his ears, and he knew that Sebastian would still be standing by the front door after he had closed it, as if anticipating Natalia's sudden departure.

Sebastian heard Natalia's heals from the entertainment room, toward where he stood by the front door. He could hear her heart beating faster as she approached him.

Nothing but one look between them was exchanged, one curious glance on Sebastian's side, longing on Natalia's, but there was something else as well. She only paused for a moment to look at him before reaching for the doorknob, where his hand closed over hers. Sebastian smirked.

She hesitated, still exchanging no words. A few seconds and Sebastian opened the door for her, and she left.

He heard Robert's car leaving, heard Natalia's footsteps approach her car, heard her getting into her car, and then starting the engine, driving away quickly.

Sebastian turned to the side to acknowledge his master, who now stood by the staircase looking at Sebastian.

"That was quite an interesting interaction. Who is that man?"

"His name is Robert Jones. He is the new patient I had just now."

"How do he and Natalia know each other?"

"I don't know, my lord."

"Find out."

"Yes, my lord." Sebastian smirked, and in an instant had exited their house, not requiring a vehicle to keep up with Natalia.

He knew Natalia was following Robert, so whatever would end up happening when Robert stopped driving, he would be watching.

Sebastian was careful not to get too close to Natalia's car, and was thankful for Robert living in an isolated area, away from suburbia. The road to wherever he was going was lined with trees on either side, and Sebastian was able to easily follow Natalia following Robert, hiding amongst the trees.

Natalia herself seemed to be keeping her distance from the car.

After about forty five minutes of driving, Robert finally pulled into a dirt driveway among a clearing of trees, only marked by a single black mailbox. He drove down the path and stopped in front of a house, that Sebastian assumed was Robert's. Sebastian went ahead of Natalia, still able to hide amongst the trees, and observed.

It was a single story house, gray as though it had not been painted after it was completed, simple. There were flowers on pots in the front porch, which was surprisingly huge and held up by pillars made of bricks. There were no other cars in the driveway, which Sebastian found strange, since Robert had claimed to be married. No dogs either. Robert had said he owned a dog. Sebastian did notice that the little black mailbox in front of the property read "Jones, R." indicating the residence was in fact his.

_So it appears Mr. Robert Jones lied._

The house seemed to be alone, except for Robert, who had now gotten out of his car and headed for the front door, looking for his keys to open it.

He looked toward the pathway when he heard Natalia's vehicle coming.

Sebastian saw that the expression on Robert's face was the same as it had been before, when he had seen Natalia at his house. Only more frightened, like a deer in headlights.

Sebastian found himself feeling a little excited, and was even more amused when Natalia drove up fast, only slamming on her breaks when she reached too close to the porch where Robert was standing, almost as if she were actually going to drive onto the porch and into the man. She obviously wanted to intimidate him. She looked angrier than Sebastian had ever seen her. Infuriated.

Robert turned around to face Natalia, who now got out of her car, taking only her keys with her, slamming her door shut. She stormed toward Robert, who held his hands up, in what could be considered surrender. Sebastian listened and observed from the shadows of the trees.

"Now are you going to tell me what the hell you were doing at that house?"

"Dr. Lucas, you followed me? P-please-"

"Shut up and answer the question!" She stood close to him, too close for Sebastian's comfort, and apparently for Robert's comfort as well. He backed up into his door, hands still held up.

"I-I'm trying to get better! I want to learn to c-curve my desires. I'm starting therapy with Dr. Michaelis-"

"You _sick_ bastard," Natalia said venomously, her face contorted in disgust.

"Does he know about you? Did you tell him what you are? And why you need his _help_?" Natalia said, each word louder than the one it followed.

Robert was silent.

"**_DID YOU_**?"

Robert was startled by the change in the volume of her voice.

"N-n-not y-"

"I thought so," she shook her head.

"Do you think I'm stupid, Robert? Do you think I don't know what you're doing? I know why you chose Dr. Michaelis. I know 'people' like you. Disgusting. Pigs. You researched him, didn't you. Drove to his house, made sure he had what you were looking for,"

Natalia continued talking as Robert shook his head, "You don't want therapy. You chose him because he has a son, didn't you? A little boy?"

Then Sebastian realized what Robert had been hiding. Why he claimed 'erectile dysfunction.' Robert was a pedophile.

"No! No! I swear! I just- heard great things about him!"

"_SHUT UP_. I saw the way you looked at that boy. Look at me. If you ever, EVER, come near that family again-_LOOK AT ME_-" Robert had been avoiding eye contact with Natalia, and had turned his head.

What surprised Sebastian was that Natalia actually took hold of Robert's face, grabbing it hard, and made him turn to face her.

"If you ever come near them again, _I swear on my dead lover's grave I will kill you._" She let him go, shoving him against the door and backing away slowly, still glaring at him ferociously.

Robert continued to look at her as she got in her car, slammed the door, and started the engine, hitting the accelerator while holding the break, just to make Robert think that she would run him over in his own porch. It worked, he jumped.

When Natalia backed her vehicle out and then sped off onto the highway, Sebastian saw Robert let out a sigh of relief, and standing there, his body shaking for a few seconds looking downward, before raising his eyes again in the direction Natalia had left. This time, he didn't look frightened. This time he looked seriously angry.

He turned around to open the door of his house and walked in, locking the door.

Sebastian put the pieces together. He knew Natalia worked with children who had experienced trauma. Now he knew that Robert was apparently a pedophile, who was at the very least acquainted with Natalia.

She had been so angry that Sebastian could only assume that he had victimized someone Natalia knew, most likely a child patient of hers. Judging by her reaction upon seeing Robert, he must have done extreme damage. He probably had either gone unpunished, his punishment was brief, or no charges had been filed, because he was not in prison and had not disclosed to be a registered sex offender. Sebastian would have to do a search on the Internet.

So Robert had lied and hidden the truth of 'seeking therapy.' He may not even have been looking for therapy at all, and may only have been searching for a household with children, young boys, as Natalia had said alluded that was his 'preference'.

Sebastian chuckled and spoke to himself, "Mr. Robert Jones, it seems this time you have picked the wrong person to victimize."

* * *

><p>"Here it is," Ciel said, looking at his computer screen, Sebastian standing behind him.<p>

When Sebastian had arrived home with the information, Ciel immediately got on his computer to the only place where you can find anything and everything. Google. They were now looking at an archived newspaper article.

Ciel read, skipping through the article for the relevant information, "Robert Jones, accused of the murders of his ex-wife and 12 year old son, couldn't complete the trial because of a technicality... It says he had allegedly sexually abused his son, but the case never to court. The wife divorced him and... oh, and shortly after the divorce was final is when the murders happened. That's why the case didn't go to court, so nothing was ever proven."

Sebastian spoke, "So then it appears as though Mr. Jones has continued his behaviors. He searched us out because he thinks you're a child, my lord."

"Great. I am bait for pedophiles. That's fucking fantastic," Ciel said sarcastically.

Sebastian chuckled, "Nothing would ever happen to you, my lord."

"No shit," Ciel glared. "No human can ever hurt me, even if I didn't have you around."

"You always have me by your side, my lord."

"And Dr. Lucas," Ciel added, smirking toward Sebastian, whose expression darkened. Ciel was enjoying this.

Then he read on.

"Sebastian, it says that Dr. Natalia Lucas was the expert witness on the case. She was the son's therapist.*"

"Well it all makes perfect sense now."

"She must feel awfully guilty," Ciel said, a hint of playfulness on his voice. He was pensive for a moment and then added, "You said he appeared _angry_ afterward?"

"Yes. She quite literally, and unnecessarily, got in his way of you."

Ciel thought out loud, "He has killed before..."

Ciel turned slowly to look at his butler, who returned the look, each knowing what the other was thinking.

"GO." Ciel ordered. Sebastian left immediately. Ciel smirked at the absence of the usual words, 'Yes, my lord.' '_So it appears he's found another plaything,'_ the young demon thought to himself, somewhat jealous that _he_ didn't have a plaything of his own, but thinking that perhaps now he could have a little deviation from the boring norm. He opened the icon that read 'P.E.' and logged in to his game, ready to play the expansion (!) Natalia had given him.

* * *

><p>Sebastian hurried as fast as he could to Natalia's place. It had been hours since he had left Robert's house, and it was now nighttime, and there had appeared to be no movement in his house when he left it, but humans could be unpredictable. If what he and his master thought was true, Robert would be on his way now to try to get rid of the person who he thought stood in his way, Natalia.<p>

He decided to first look through the window of her apartment on the 27th floor, by standing atop the building adjacent to it.

The first thing he saw was blood all over her living room floor, and the broken coffee table. He feared he was too late.

Nobody would take Natalia away from him. A demon could only find such a delectable meal once in decades, if at all, and since he had lost Ciel's soul long ago, he had decided she was his to devour. No shinigami or measly human would impede that.

He didn't care at that point how he entered her apartment as long as he could keep her safe, so hoping he was not too late he went in through the window of the living room, shattering the glass over her white carpet.

The sight before him was alarming, but not in the way he had feared.

Natalia sat on her knees on the floor drenched in blood from her chest down to ground.

It was not her own.

Robert lay in the living room floor, groaning and bleeding out from multiple stab wounds to his back, and possibly his chest. It was too late for him. Pretty soon, a reaper would no doubt appear. He had to get Natalia out of the room.

Natalia's face was swollen, and was starting to bruise in different areas. She stared at the body.

She didn't look at Sebastian. She appeared to be in a catatonic state, with a piece of broken glass possibly from the coffee table in one hand, and a kitchen knife in the other.

One of her living room lamps had been broken, apparently over Robert's head. It appeared that when he fell he had fallen onto the glass coffee table, possibly getting stabbed by pieces of glass from it. He could see no other way that she could have overpowered him. She had then taken advantage to stab him multiple times on his back.

Robert had been wearing dark clothing, gloves, and somewhere among the shambles of the objects in the living room floor there lay a roll of duct tape and a roll of thin wire. Handcuffs. Rope. It was clear to Sebastian what Robert's intentions had been. He gave the dying body on the floor one last look of disgust before he stomped angrily on the head with his foot (Natalia shuddered). He then proceeded toward Natalia to get her out of the room before a reaper appeared. He could sense one nearby.

He brushed the hair from her face with his fingers and looked her thoroughly to assess her injuries. She was not responding. She didn't even look at him, or away from the body. Her eyes were glossy, but she didn't blink much. She just sat, breathing.

She had a thin cut to her throat, Sebastian imagined that was where Robert had tried to strangle her with the wire. It was not deep. She had a black eye, a cut on the her lips where he had probably punched her, a bruise on her cheek, all on the left side, also from a fist to the face. She also had bruises along the top of her arms, as though Robert had grabbed her forcefully. Robert's blood splattered on her hair, her face, and on her chest where her cleavage showed, and Sebastian made a mental note to remove the filthy dead man's blood immediately from every part of her body.

Once he was sure that no bones were broken, he carefully lifted her. She was unresponsive as he carried her to the bedroom. He wondered what he could do about the whole 'jumping in through the window' incident, if she had noticed that at all in her state of shock.

He set her down to sit on the bed, and then walked out of the bedroom, closing the door slowly, as he walked right across her room to the bathroom to start the shower for her.

He would wash her himself if he had to, so long as he could remove those ugly stains from her body where that scum's blood had landed, or where the filthy hands had touched her.

When the water was warm enough, he stepped out of the bathroom, and form the corner of his eye, around the corner of the small hallway that led to Natalia's bedroom and bathroom, he could see a shadow in the living room. A reaper, to collect Robert's soul.

He caught a glimpse of long red hair, darker than Grelle's and black clothing, probably the standard reaper uniform. It was not Grelle, it was someone who did not feel familiar to him. Somehow Sebastian knew that whoever it was, they would not bother him or Natalia.

He decided he would not bother the reaper either, it was always an unpleasant moment when reapers were involved. Especially now, he had no time for that. He didn't want to leave his master home alone for too long. He walked into Natalia's bedroom to kneel before her.

He spoke firmly, but sending the message that he was asking for her permission, "I need to get this blood off you, Natalia"

Nothing.

"I am going to remove your clothing now."

* * *

><p>Hope you all enjoyed it enough to review!<p>

*Note: I don't think that you can be both the therapist _and_ the expert witness on cases, I just wrote it that way because, well, this is fiction ^_^.


	26. The Truth

***I don't own Kuroshitsuji.***

**This comes with extra cheese. I can't stress that enough. Be warned, and please forgive me!**

**Like I said, the more reviews, the faster the updates. MANY THANK YOU'S! -I'd actually uploaded this before, and realized I missed a huge part. If you tried to access it and couldn't, or if you were one of the 3 who read it within the few minutes between upload and delete, many apologies :(. **

**FYI: The rating has officially changed, mostly because of this chapter and the last one. Hope that's okay with the readers.**

* * *

><p>"I am going to remove your clothing now."<p>

No response.

He unbuttoned the once white cardigan she was wearing, slid it over her shoulders and set it on the floor. He would worry about the carpet later. He hesitated and looked at her, just to be sure it was okay, before removing her top. She was still mostly unresponsive, which did not make his job any easier.

He stopped for a few moments before proceeding. He wanted her to know, even in her subconscious, that he was not doing this without her consent.

It was when he got physically closer and put his arms around her to unclasp her bra that she moved. She lowered her head to rest on his shoulder. He turned toward her, his hands still at the clasp. Her face showed nothing.

"I need to wash the blood off your body," he explained. Without looking at him she gave the slightest nod.

He removed her bra. She didn't try to hide herself from him, but she continued to avoid eye contact. He wondered what was going through her mind, if she was really there at all, and if her earlier nod wasn't just some automatic reaction.

He then lifted her to stand, so that he could remove her pants, black and red with the dead man's blood. Clearly she had been relaxing at home when Robert showed up. The pants were definitely ruined. He hated that the dead man's blood had touched her in so many places. He then removed the only remaining article of clothing and she stood completely naked in front of him, unmoving. It reminded Sebastian of a puppet doll.

He had to carry her to get her to the bathroom, and set her down carefully on the tub, so that she was sitting. He didn't mind that he got wet in the process of setting her down. She didn't seem to object to him seeing so much of her. Of course, she was still in shock and he didn't know exactly what was going through her mind.

Sebastian sat her so that she was facing away from him. After all, he still wanted Natalia to feel safe in his arms, like he respected her despite this obvious lack of boundaries between them.

He would have to do something about that, he was technically still her "therapist", although truthfully he had stopped being a therapist for her quite some time ago. Anybody else would lose their license over something like this. Then again he would not do anything like this with any of his other patients, and she was not just another patient. She was the soul he wanted to devour.

The warm water fell on her and she closed her eyes, raised her knees to cross them in front of her with her head resting on them, and leaned against the edge of the tub, where Sebastian knelt on the other side to be more at her level.

He removed his coat and folded it neatly before setting it on the counter of the bathroom sink, despite it being splotched with the blood that had been on her person, rolled up his sleeves, and reached for her shampoo, to wash her hair of the filth.

He carefully massaged the shampoo all over the top of her head. She leaned back to let him and closed her eyes.

Sebastian had never had reason to be embarrassed by nudity. He had bathed his master countless times. He didn't particularly ever show his body to another in that way*. At times his job as butler to Ciel required the seduction of women, even in these later years, his teachers to be precise, to raise his grades in dance class -and only in dance class- but he never had to really expose himself. He would rather simply touch them and make them feel the seduction with his hands, but not with any other part of his body. Especially not the parts of his body which felt tense now being so close to Natalia in this odd ritualistic way.

The blood on her hair had not had the chance to dry, so he was surprised at why it was so difficult to completely cleanse it thoroughly. It took quite a few rinses to get it all out.

He was not ordered to care for her. The way he rationalized it to himself was, she was his meal now, soul and body, and he simply didn't want that man's blood on it.

When he was done cleaning her hair he grabbed the sponge she had carelessly left in the tub from before, and poured the body wash on it to begin to lather her neck. She moved her head forward to give him better access. It was like she moved automatically.

He soaked the sponge with warm water and poured it gently to rub off the blood on her neck. Most of it was on her neck in the front. He moved her hair out of the way, to the side over her shoulders, and continued to her back, which to be honest had no blood on it at all. He was simply enjoying the closeness, the way she was trusting him to see her naked in more than just one way. Her skin, by his standards, was flawless.

He worked the sponge and lather down her arms, gently rubbing along the bruises, and slowed down when she flinched at the slight touch to the largest bruise, which was up near her left shoulder. He caressed the area with his hand, not caring that he was getting his black gloves wet, and then worked down both arms before he remembered that spot between her breasts, and all over her upper chest and down her abdomen that was all covered in blood. He had to wash it off immediately.

The proximity did nothing to help the cravings he had for her soul, and now apparently his body was responding to hers. The longer a demon waits, the better the meal. Too long of a wait can drive a demon mad, and he had waited far too long because of the loss of Ciel. If he had taken Ciel's soul, he could not imagine himself wanting Natalia's this badly. That might have been enough for at least a century before he moved on to the next master.

If he thought her scent was intoxicating before, he would be lying if he said he was not getting drunk off it just being that close to her, as she appeared so vulnerable that it was all he could do to not lay her down on the tub and devour her then and there, especially after having committed her second murder (technically, her first).

"You have a lot of blood down your chest and abdomen." He said, thinking that she might want to take the sponge and wash herself there.

He was wrong. She straightened up and leaned a bit backward, allowing him to reach around with more ease. She turned to look at him as he used the sponge in her upper chest. He was surprised she was allowing this. He refused to look directly at the area where he was massaging her with the sponge, opting to maintain the eye contact she gave him as he did so, thereby letting her know he was respecting her as much as possible given the situation.

Her facial expression revealed absolutely nothing, she may as well have been staring at the wall.

"Is the blood gone?" He asked her.

"You tell me," She whispered, turning her head downward. _Acting demure now, aren't we_, he thought to himself, remembering what Stefan and Phil had told him about her poor boundaries with men. To give her the benefit of the doubt, perhaps she didn't want to look at the blood anymore.

He said nothing, but continued to work on the area. She continued to look downward.

"Do you believe that monsters are sometimes born into this world?"

He gave the question some thought. Not because he didn't know the answer, but because he wondered why she asked that specific question.

"I do," he said.

"I think I'm one of them."

He was quiet for a moment. "Natalia, you are the furthest thing from a monster I have ever met," he responded, truthfully.

Silence. She breathed in deeply.

"Am I hallucinating you right now?" She leaned her head backward, facing the opposite way, away from him.

"No."

"You jumped in through the window." It was a statement, not a question.

There was no use denying it. "Yes," he confirmed.

"I live on the 27th floor."

"You do."

More silence. He had spent too much time on her chest, not really being anything more to scrub, so he directed his hand lower, from her upper chest to scrub gently between her breasts and remove the blood from that area. Her heartbeat quickened.

"You kissed me that day, when Stefan and Phil left. You came back for your keys," she whispered. Still she looked away.

He hesitated before confirming. "I did."

"Then you disappeared."

He continued to lather, now more slowly, more sensual, his sponge rubbing the area directly below her right breast, and rubbing along the curve of it, enjoying the inappropriate intimacy.

There was no use leading her to believe otherwise.

He leaned forward to whisper in her ear. "I jumped out the window."

Neither said a word for a few moments.

"You saved my life."

"It appears that you did that yourself. That man was beat before I arrived."

"No. Before. You saved my life. When I tried to kill myself. I wasn't hallucinating you then, was I?"

One thing he could give her, she was quite intelligent, at least when it came to her observation of others. Many human psychologists were. When it came to personal insight, well... perhaps she had some work to do. _Most human psychologists did_.

"I took you to the hospital."

"No," she said, shaking her head, still looking away as if refusing to look at him and speaking in near whispers, "You saved my life."

She was quiet then. He knew what she was alluding to, it was when he lay her down and took a bit of her soul. He had felt what she felt, and what she felt was alive.

He wanted her to articulate this herself.

"I don't remember much... I know it was too vivid to be a hallucination. I'm starting to doubt if I ever... I don't know what's real anymore." She shut her eyes as though in pain, and continued to let him work down her abdomen. It was as far as he could get physically, in their current position.

He positioned himself to kneel closer to her, and raised his left hand to place it on her left shoulder, his right hand remaining on her abdomen. The only thing that really stood between them was the height of the tub. He continued to get wet from the shower head.

"Does this seem real to you?" he whispered in her ear.

She seemed to think about it.

"If it is, then what are you?"

It was a simple question, casual. Not accusing, not threatening, not frightened. Just a question. She may as well have asked, 'what color is your hair?'

"I'm a psychologist." He smirked.

She turned her head toward him now, her expression saying 'don't bullshit me.'

"Besides that," he added, "I am a demon, and a butler."

She stared at him. Then turned away, looking forward into nothing.

"That one I wasn't expecting."

"Demon?"

"Butler. Aren't butlers obsolete now?"

"Perhaps," he responded. He was enjoying their conversation. Inside, he knew he had made the right choice in her, in lieu of Ciel. She would be more delectable after her "second" murder.

"I don't know that this is really happening."

"What would it take for you to believe it."

"I don't know," she turned to him, smirking sarcastically, "my mind hasn't entirely been honest with me as of late."

He smiled, "Perhaps not."

She turned forward again.

He considered what he wanted to say, and used her own analogy, "Sometimes, there are monsters born into this world. Sometimes, there are monsters who simply drop in for a visit."

"We hide under human skin, we wear their masks. But we are not human," he said as he continued to lather her abdomen.

"That sounds too much like something in my mind. Say something else, something I wouldn't think of, so I know I'm not hallucinating."

He could tell that she was not entirely believing that this was real. She was not fully present, her mind was partly elsewhere. All of this probably seemed entirely unreal to her.

"Am I human?" she asked.

"Why would you doubt that?"

"I've killed twice."

"Is that not a human thing to do?"

She chuckled, "I suppose it is."

"Do you think this body," he ran his hands up her arms, over her shoulders, down her breasts (making her gasp), and down to rest at her abdomen again, "is not human?"

"Does it not feel human sensations, right now as I touch you?" he whispered.

She turned to face him, "Do you?" she surprised him with that question.

He smirked. He was not obligated to respond. She was not his master.

"If what you say is true, tell me one thing. What did you do to me _that _night?"

"I followed you home from my office. I witnessed everything. Then I saw that you were dying, and I realized that the only way to save your life was to give you what you wanted. A taste of death."

She seemed confused. "Is that what that was?"

"I do want to apologize for that. It was selfish of me to do so without your consent."

"To do what, exactly?"

"I took advantage of you. In order to save you I had to make you want to live for something, for anything. I realized that you had a death wish, so I took advantage of that. I devoured a bit of your soul."

"My soul?" She sounded like she thought he was the crazy one.

"You're a demon, and you eat souls." She wanted to confirm.

"That is correct."

"Well, that sounds less like something I would make up."

She moved away from his arms then, sat up and turned to face him now directly, kneeling before him, where he could admire her now bloodspatter-free neck, chest, and torso, he'd done a good job. Her hair fell over her shoulders, making her look quite exquisite, and the water continued to pour down on her as he waited for her next move.

"Was it good?" she asked.

He was amused now.

"The best I've had in a while."

"And you just took a bit?"

"Yes."

"Is that why I am still alive? I feel just the same as before."

He leaned a bit closer to her, their faces only inches from each other. He grinned, "Yes I did worry about that at first, but apparently it was not enough to change you," He ran his index finger down her cheek and to her chin, "I was able to stop myself. You are quite delicious, you see."

"Why is that?"

He considered this, tilting his head and removing his hand from her, "Good question."

"I mean, why did you stop yourself?"

"Well now, who's therapizing whom?"

She took a deep breath, "I don't care about my soul."

"Oh you don't?" He asked sarcastically.

"I have the soul of a killer. I don't deserve to continue living, and yet I do. My life is rotten. If I am hallucinating you now, that serves as testament to how batshit crazy I've truly gone. How am I to return to my private practice then? I don't really know if this is real," she shook her head but continued speaking,

"If Robert won back there and I am dead, and this is limbo, then I can't think of a better way to go than to be swallowed by a demon. That actually sounds like salvation right now,

"If I am not dead, and this is a delusion, then I can say with all certainty that I have never felt more alive than when I hallucinated you taking a bit of my soul. And if this is real, and not a delusion at all, then the truth stands that you and I can both benefit from you taking a bit more, or all, of me," she swallowed hard, searching his face for some emotion she was not going to find.

"So, I am officially giving you permission now. Take it. Just take it now." She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, waiting.

He chuckled in amusement and leaned in closer to her, "That is not how this works."

She was not going to dictate how he was to devour her. She needed to learn that she belonged to him now, and he would take her as he pleased. First, one thing out of the way.

"You know, Natalia, you've allowed me to see all of you without much shame. That tells me what you really want from me is not _therapy_," he chuckled. He knew he was playing with his food, and he enjoyed every second of it.

She appeared disappointed about where the conversation was going, "I never _wanted_ therapy from you. But if that's a problem now, then I guess you're fired Dr. Michaelis."

"You can't fire me. You were referred to me by an outside source. We have to at least pretend to continue therapy until you get better."

"And what were we doing before, if not pretending?"

He didn't respond. It was a rhetorical question.

"Well at any rate, it doesn't seem like I'm getting any better. You saw that man out there. He's dead. That makes me a murderer twice over. I don't know if I can stop myself from killing again,"

He knew she was bullshitting him, in a weak attempt to convince him to take her soul.

"Besides, I don't know how many ethical codes you have broken with me, but this is certainly grounds for some serious disciplinary action from the Board of Psychology. Remember, 'Professional Therapy Never Includes Sex**'?"

He couldn't help but chuckle now, "This isn't sex, Natalia," _yet,_ he added mentally.

"And now, you are also an accomplice to murder."

"It seems to me that he deserved it."

She stared blankly, not knowing what to say. She pursed her lips.

He wanted very much to take her then, even if it was not her soul he took, even if it was only carnal. He could still taste her soul through her skin, feel her emotions that made her soul worthy of disgracing. If she slept with him -and he was sure she would willingly if he wanted her to- he knew that she would not forgive herself. She would feel as though she were insulting the memory of her _beloved_ Ronald. That may make her taste better too, not to mention get under the reaper's skin.

He looked her over. "I don't see any more blood."

He stood up and just when she thought he was coming closer to do something to her, he leaned over to turn the knob shutting the water off. He held out his hands to help her get up. She took them and stood up slowly.

He then turned and grabbed one of the largest towels in the room and draped it over her shoulders, covering her body. She clutched it tightly around herself.

She looked at him in wonder, and bit her bottom lip.

He knew what she was thinking. He smirked in response and said, "My apologies for disappointing you, but that won't happen tonight."

"Why not?" She sounded angry. "You've already had a bit. Why not just take it all now?"

"As I said before, that is not the way it works. Perhaps with other, lesser demons, but not with me. I would get no enjoyment out of that."

"So it's all for entertainment value."

"That's not it at all. Souls like yours don't come along every day. It would be a great sin to devour it hastily."

"What does my soul have that others don't." Her voice sounded bored.

He assessed her expression and could see she was still skeptical.

"I see that you still do not believe that this is real. I could attempt to prove it to you, but whatever you see tonight from this point forward, I don't think you will fully believe it is real either. Not yet. So I will stop trying to convince you now, and give you time to wrap your head around the fact that you are in fact _not_ hallucinating."

She lowered her gaze toward the ground to see where Sebastian's bloody footsteps had landed, after having walked through her living room and having crushed Robert's head. It made her feel sick to the point where she felt nauseous and almost fell over.

Sebastian was quick to grab her. He picked her up bridal style. She closed her eyes and buried her head in his chest.

He knew it was safe to exit the room now, he could no longer feel the reaper in the apartment, not for a long while now. He carried her into her bedroom.

He set her down on her bed and looked for some clean clothing.

"Natalia, do you ever do your laundry?"

"There are some clean clothes in the bottom drawer, I'll get them-" She began to stand up but her knees wouldn't cooperate.

In half a second he was in front of her, holding her down by her right shoulder with his left hand. "Sit," he was perhaps too firm, "You've had too much excitement for one night."

She hesitantly obeyed, because she had no other choice. He smiled and turned back to look for clothing that would be comfortable for her to sleep in.

"So what about Ciel? Is he a 'demon' too?"

Sebastian smiled. This part would be perhaps more difficult to explain, and it was not entirely his place to speak of his master. He kept it simple.

"He is my master."

She turned to look at him incredulously. "What does that entail?"

"I said before I am a butler. I am bound to my master through contract. That means I serve at his side, whatever he wishes, whatever he requests, I am to follow his orders. I do not fail."

She furrowed her eyebrows to try to understand, but it seemed to be perhaps too much for one night. She was evidently too tired and shook her head, giving up, and leaned back against the headboard.

Sebastian turned around with a nightgown in hand to see that she had fallen asleep. He found a blanket to cover her with.

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><p>I usually hate cheese, but it had to happen sometime, and the situation presented itself, before I knew it, BAM! Extra cheese. Hope you enjoyed reading it anyway. ^_^<p>

*I know in the manga he did, not willingly, during the murder mystery arc. One of the many drawbacks of writing based on anime :(.

**We are required to have a handout titled "Professional Therapy Never Includes Sex" in our offices available to our patients, in California. I don't know if that's also the law across the U.S. or in other countries. For the sake of me getting the ethical guidelines right, let's just say Sebby and Ciel live in Cali.


	27. Poached Eggs

***I do not own Kuroshitsuji.***

**I have been very sick lately so I'm SO sorry if this sucks, but I wanted to do a mini cutesy(?) scene at least that I hope you all like, for now. It still follows the previous chapter, but it's not a full chapter. I am so sick and haven't been in my right mind to write :(.**

**THANK YOU all for the reviews! ^_^**

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><p><strong><em>::Dr. Sebastian Michaelis' Updated Patient Schedule::<em>**

**Monday: 1:00PM- Lindsay; 2:00-4:00PM - open**

**Tuesday: Noon- Dimitri**

**Wednesday: 1:00PM-3:00PM- open; 7:00PM- Mona and Shane**

**Thursday: 5:00PM- Cyd (_Treatment terminated_) ; 6:00PM- Bobby**

**Friday: 2:00PM- Carla; ****7:00PM- Natalia (?)**

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><p><strong><em>Treatment Interventions: <em>**

**Sebastian is listed as a psychoanalyst. However, that is mostly for allowance of further sessions should he want to see his patients more than once a week, and for allowance of longer treatment. He typically does not. He likes to use different interventions for certain patients:**

**Mona and Shane: Developmental Model of couples therapy, focus on growth as a couple, explore why they keep repeating the same mistakes with each other, teach new ways to solve their conflicts. Improve listening and communication skills.**

**Cyd (treatment terminated): Person-centered therapy, focus on her, explore feelings/emotions and underlying issues. Recommend to future psychologist to use same approach.**

**Bobby: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, focus on beating his OCD through exposure of unpleasant stimuli, to desensitize the bad triggers and turn them into non triggers.**

**Carla: (Sigh) Person-centered therapy? **

**Natalia: Imaginal exposure, focus on recalling the traumatic event repeatedly to desensitize her to it and help her overcome her trauma. (On paper).**

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><p><strong><em>::FunCon:<em> _T- 4 days::_**

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><p>Natalia opened her eyes to see Ciel looking directly at her. He was sitting on the bed where she lay, just looking at her. It was the first time she could see his right eye, as his hair, usually parted on the left side, hung in front covering it completely the other times she had seen the boy. She had assumed it was the "in" thing, as all the kids wore their hair in similar hairstyles.<p>

She could now see it was not that at all.

She felt an odd sensation upon looking directly at the mark in his eye. As she did, all the images of the previous night flooded her mind and she shut her eyes for a minute.

She looked down at herself. The last she remembered she was naked wrapped in a towel. She now wore a white bathrobe that she recognized as hers. She sat up in the bed.

She felt a deep sadness for the boy- no, _demon_- that she could not comprehend. How could such an innocent looking boy not be a boy at all?

"Did you sleep well?"

She immediately noticed how his voice was different than the other times she had spoken to him. It was more serious, more adult.

He smirked. "It's rude to not answer someone's question."

She cleared her throat. "Yes, I did," Surprisingly, she thought. For the first time she looked around to realize that she was not in her own bed. She didn't recognize the room she was in.

"You're in our house. Sebastian thought it a good idea to bring you here while you slept. This is his room."

She glanced around the room upon the mention of Sebastian's name.

"Don't worry, he isn't here," he said as though reading her mind.

"_Mrreeoow!_"

Natalia looked down to the black cat that had just jumped up onto the bed and was now nuzzling against her left arm. She wore a pink collar with a gold penchant with cursive writing that read "Princess." Natalia pet her.

"That's Sebastian's cat," Ciel said with a hint of annoyance in his voice.

"Where is he?" she asked, petting the cat as it lay next to her on the bed.

Ciel chuckled. "He's cleaning your apartment, he says you made quite a mess of it," Natalia blushed. "He left you some breakfast," he glanced toward a corner of the room where there was a tray with food.

"I ordered him to make it before he left."

Natalia saw Ciel in a new, eerie light. Knowing what she knew now, he somehow reminded her of some magical creature one would only encounter in some enchanted woods in fairy tales, the ones who would put a human under a trance and lure one to their lair.

_Not boy,_ she had to keep reminding herself of that.

"Ordered?"

"Yes. I thought he explained that to you."

"He did. I think I fell asleep as he was explaining."

"He is _under my employ_, so to speak." He smirked again.

She nodded, remembering. "He does what you request." Ciel nodded and replied, "You could say that."

"I'm sorry you have to see me like this."

"Hmph. I thought knowing the truth would stop you infantilizing me," he said, somewhat accusingly.

"I'm sorry," she meant it. "It's just-"

"Hard to get used to." He finished her sentence for her.

It would have been a more awkward conversation if it weren't for the cat.

"So he is your butler, and you're both …" she was almost afraid of finishing the sentence, of saying it out loud. It was more real if she said it out loud. It contradicted all the laws of everything she'd ever known or been educated in.

"Demons." Ciel finished for her again.

Natalia's face was hard to read. She looked at Ciel as though she was sorry and afraid of him at the same time.

Princess got up, stretched, purred, and walked over to Ciel, who rolled his eyes and looked the other way trying to avoid the cat, who meowed at Ciel ignoring her. Noticing this, Natalia smiled and picked Princess up to bring her to Natalia's lap.

"You don't like cats?"

"It's not that I don't like them. Not always, that is. I was allergic to them many years ago. I got used to cats being paired with negative experiences, so they are not exactly positive stimuli for me. I suppose that's what people like you and Sebastian would call conditioning."

She smiled.

"I wasn't worried, by the way."

He looked at her questioningly.

"You said earlier, 'don't worry he isn't here.' I wouldn't have been worried if he were here."

Ciel raised his eyebrows. "I hope you're not falling in love with him."

Natalia's eyes grew wide with surprise. "No. I can assure you, I am not."

"Because that would make you a masochist."

"I am not falling in love with him. I am very grateful for all he has done for me."

Ciel scoffed. "All he has done for you? Okay…" he turned the other way, smirking.

"It's just- it's- things are… complicated."

"That's what so-called adults say to a child. There again, you infantilize me."

"I'm sorry."

"You should be. I'm older than you."

Ciel was enjoying the play of emotions he was doing on Natalia. The fact that she still talked to him like one would a child bothered him, but at the same time played on the fact that he was still playing a game. She was still Sebastian's meal, and Sebastian was still his butler. He would still have fun while it lasted. He could make it last as long as he wanted. Besides, if she had a friend at Phantomhive Entertainment, by extension Funtom Corp, there could be other things that could be gained from her, like the expansion to the game she had given him earlier. Remembering this, he took a different tack.

"You should eat your breakfast," he said, getting up to bring the tray over to her.

"Thank you."

"It's cold," he said, "allow me."

"Oh, you don't have to-" she began to say, thinking Ciel would be burdened with taking it down to reheat it and not wanting that to happen. That was not what happened.

Ciel held out his hand in front above the food: poached eggs on toast with a baked potato, melted butter and jam on the side.

Natalia watched in awe as his hand seemed to expel heat, and before she knew it the eggs were sizzling and she could smell the warm coffee in the coffeepot as though it had been made just now. Ciel smirked.

"Wow." It was all she could say.

He sat down and watched her eat her food slowly. He knew she was not hungry, could not be hungry after last night. But she ate anyway. That told him she was falling in line with the chain of authority, even if it were subconsciously.

"I enjoyed playing the expansion, Natalia," he smiled.

"I'm glad," she smiled back. She still was not fully clear about the relationship between Ciel and Sebastian. It didn't seem that her first impressions were true at all. And she definitely could not be hallucinating this long. Inside, she smiled, knowing that despite being in a house of demons, somehow she was safe, and she would eventually get what she wanted. As long as Ciel was okay with whatever Sebastian was going to do to her, she would welcome it with open arms. Because however painful it might be, she felt she deserved worse. She didn't believe in God, and had not been religious for a long, long time, but far as she knew, these two being were her light at the end of the dark tunnel, they were her salvation.

She wondered why Sebastian served Ciel, and imagined a scenario where Ciel was a demon of higher rank, and therefore Sebastian had to serve him. Or perhaps Sebastian had lost a bet. Did demons make bets?

Well, they apparently liked video games.


	28. Unexpected

***I don't own Kuroshitsuji, or its characters.***

**Sorry it has taken me so long to post the other half of that cutesy chapter. I have seriously been so sick I'd think I would die! It's affecting the way I think and write, so I hope this doesn't suck.**

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><p>Sebastian looked around the room, assessing it. He had made absolutely sure that he left no evidence whatsoever that a murder had occurred there, and no evidence at all that Robert had been anywhere near the apartment or the building. No evidence that there had been any kind of a struggle.<p>

He had cleaned, fixed the furniture, erased every speck, every hair, every fingerprint except Natalia's, and had tried his best to erase the scent of dead body, although that part had been much harder. The place was otherwise impeccable.

It took him exactly six minutes.

He had already taken care of the body, and ensured that it was in a place where nobody would ever find it.

As he stood in the living room with his back to the open window he had just repaired, he felt that presence again.

He knew it was a reaper before he turned around. Whoever had been there earlier to collect Robert's soul, it was a presence he could not recognize. This told him he had not met this reaper before.

He smiled. He was not surprised that whoever it was had returned. He expected some kind of reprimand, some whining about his involvement in the murder, some insults, perhaps a fight.

He was _not_ expecting the voice he heard.

"I see you got fat."

He felt a tingling sensation, a shiver that ran up his spine to his neck.

_How could it be? After all these years?_

The shiver was perhaps what shocked him the most. How could he have this reaction to _anybody_? It was impossible, he was a demon, _nothing_ surprised him.

"I can see you weren't expecting _me._"

He turned around to face her. He would have expected anyone else, Ronald, Grell, William... but never in a million years did he expect _her._

"Mey Rin."

A smile played gracefully on her lips. _Everything_ about her seemed graceful, down to the tone of her voice, which was the one natural to her, not that horrible accent she faked so well in her days as Phantomhive maid. So well that he had forgotten what her voice truly sounded like.

The woman before him now was a total contradiction of the last image he had been left with that day so long ago when the master and he had left the Phantomhive estate never to return.

She stood before the window he had left open. Her outfit was almost the same as William's, a black suit with a tie. Her shirt was buttoned all the way, a red tie perfectly fitting around her neck. Other than the jacket being slightly too large for her, the suit fit her silhouette perfectly. She wore black gloves, a material that looked like leather, and rectangular clear-framed glasses that were only slightly larger than her now yellow-green eyes, which they complimented perfectly. Her hair fell in long, red waves down her back and shoulders. _That_ was the same as the day he had recruited her.

At first glance it seemed like she wore black suspenders, although looking carefully he could see they actually served as small gun holsters. _Of course_, he thought._ She wouldn't be Mey Rin without that._

She stood with her right hand on her hip, one foot bent over the other almost in a boyish way, and leaned with her left hand on a very long, very thin, silver and black cylindrical object. Only because it was slightly shaped in a similar way to a rifle did he conclude that that's what it was, a very futuristic rifle_. _A smooth spear that looked like it was part of the object rather than attached to it protruded from the tip, about four inches long. The metal so smooth that it looked almost like liquid. _Her death scythe_.

"Forgive my surprise, but I certainly never expected to see _you_ again. Much less," he looked her over, "like this."

"Tsk. I'm afraid I can't say the same about you."

He was still shocked. Almost speechless. It was as though in just a few seconds he had lost all power, and she held it.

She chuckled.

"I imagine you have a few questions," she sighed and tilted her head.

"To make a long story extremely brief, after you and _the earl_ left, the servants remained loyal to the estate, myself included. Of course, it was not long before we realized that you were not coming back. We moved on. I met Mr. Knox, he made me a reaper, now I'm here. Well, I mostly work in the mother country," she smiled.

"A reaper..." Sebastian said, almost in awe at the Mey Rin who stood before him now. That's why he could not identify the presence before.

She was not the same. This woman was not only graceful, but confident, unafraid, and_ very_ attractive.

"Established 1892," she joked. Even that was different about her. He started to wonder...

"Finnian and Bardroy...?"

"They're dead. They each met a girl, married, had children, lived long happy lives, and then died."

"Good."

He assessed her carefully. As surprised and shocked as he was, there was still a tiny thing to consider.

Regardless of the fact that he knew she had been in love with him back then, he could see he had no such effect on her now. Reapers did loathe him, so he wondered about her current purpose.

"Now, my dearest Mey Rin, as fun as this encounter has been, I can't help but to have a few questions."

She took hold of her death scythe and in one swift motion minimized it to a third of its size. She played with it, twirling it in her hands.

"Don't worry, I'm not here to kill you."

At this he did laugh. _Him_ worried about someone like _her_ so much as hurting him? He shook his head. She was funny. She didn't laugh.

"I came here, to this girl's place, strictly on business. She's sure done a number on poor Ron," she shook her head, still playing with her death scythe, and now looking around the room. She walked up to a glass bookcase that had previously been untouched by the struggle and picked up a framed photograph of Natalia and Ronald together. Sebastian had barely noticed that photo.

"You mentioned you and Mr. Knox-"

"Fucked." She finished. That part was less gracefully said. "But it didn't last long. Not in reaper years anyway," she took a deep breath and put the framed photograph down.

She turned to look at him, who still could not get the shocked expression under control. She gave him a serious expression, "I _did_ say just now, he made me a reaper," she said, as though this should have been obvious to him. "He tried to do the same with your girlfriend, but... well, it didn't quite work out as we had hoped."

"We?"

"Yes well, we all want to see Ron happy..." she sounded bored, "we are still friends after all. And if he could find someone to take his mind off me permanently, well then, that would be just wonderful."

She looked like she meant every word she had said, as emotionless as her tone was. She had a very similar air as William Spears, only, obviously, more playful.

She looked at her watch, then at him. "Anyway _Mister Sebastian_," she smirked, "I only came back here again to do a cleanup job on this place, for poor Ronald's sake. But it looks like you beat me to it,"

She put her scythe away inside her coat, where it was no longer visible at all, and walked toward the window from whence she had come.

"It has been nice indeed to catch up with you, but I am pressed for time. Is there anything else you would like to ask? Speak now or forever hold your peace, and _you know_ that forever is a _very_ long time," she finished her sentence playfully. She knew, no doubt, what exactly became of him and Ciel, that he was forever enslaved.

There _was_ something he wanted to ask her.

"I am curious... why _is_ it that your reaper's association does not seem to care much that I have already, for all intentions, _claimed_ Natalia's soul?"

She stood facing the window, her back toward him. She seemed to hesitate before responding, and when she spoke, she did it slowly.

"Because. We only care for the fulfillment of the soul's purpose, how it benefits the world. There are some things that, regardless of who claims the soul or where it ends up, are predetermined to be fulfilled. Even if a demon such as yourself decides to meddle. That, Mister Sebastian, is something neither you nor we can change. That is why we do not worry."

She took a step more toward the window.

She was about to leave when she decided to add something.

"Another thing," she turned around to face him, "Ronald's being restrained by William's orders, but he won't last too long before he comes after you, especially when he finds out how _close_ you got to his new girlfriend. My advice: think carefully about what you're planning on doing with that girl, and I am not talking about taking her soul. You know _exactly_ what I am referring to."

What he was planning? There was only one thing he was planning on doing to her. How could she know... oh, of course...

"The cinematic records in your library," he stated. She nodded.

"Like I said, some things are predetermined. I've seen what you're planning on doing to her, Sebastian," she was serious. "He has been kept away from her cinematic record ever since he threw a fit over that kiss you gave her," Sebastian smirked at this, "but he won't be forever. And when he sees what I've seen," she lowered her head and looked intently at him, "he will definitely come after you. And I can't promise I'll try to stop him."

Sebastian smirked and walked closer to Mey Rin, stopping only inches from her.

Time was she would become flustered, her face red, start dropping things or tripping on her own feet with him standing so close to her. Now, she looked so dangerous that he was sure if he so much as touched her she would have her death scythe at his throat in less than one demonic second.

"I appreciate the warning," he said smirking. He took two steps back. She raised her head and took two steps backward as well, now at the balcony.

"By the way, I lied. You haven't gotten fat." She smirked.

He smiled.

With that, she disappeared out the window.

* * *

><p>When Sebastian entered the house, he heard the commotion from the entertainment room.<p>

Natalia screamed.

"_Damnit Beastion_!" Ciel exclaimed.

He was immediately at the doorway of the entertainment room to see Ciel sat at his computer, Natalia standing next to him obviously enthralled with whatever was going on on the screen. She rested a hand on the seat and the other at her mouth, biting her fingernails. Princess lay on the couch.

It was a strange sensation, to see his master and the woman he wanted to eat _bonding o_ver a computer game. It was an even stranger sensation to see his Princess anywhere outside his bedroom. Strange that the young master had allowed it.

Ciel became frustrated, and he and Natalia groaned at the same time before Natalia straightened up, and the master slammed his fist on his desk, pushing the keyboard away.

"That was _a total fucking rim job_!" the master yelled in anger.

"Ciel! _Language_!" Natalia scolded. Ciel rolled his eyes and logged off. They both finally acknowledged Sebastian.

Ciel swiveled in his chair to look toward Sebastian. He stared daggers at his butler, in a way that one would think it was Sebastian's fault that his guild had just lost a battle to a group of orc magi in his game. Natalia simply looked at Sebastian.

Sebastian walked over to the couch and picked up his Princess, who nuzzled into his chin, with Sebastian enjoying every second of petting her soft coat, her paws, as she purred softly, _so adorable!_

"He fucking _loves_ cats," Ciel said. Natalia smiled.

"Sebastian!" Ciel called out to get his butler's attention. Sebastian sighed and set Princess down. "Master?" he acknowledged Ciel, then turned to look at Natalia, who blushed and looked down. He smirked. Ciel rolled his eyes.

"Is it done?"

"Impeccable, my lord. It's as if it never happened." Natalia correctly assumed they were talking about the body and her apartment.

Ciel had told her that Sebastian had been away cleaning up her mess. She had a feeling that she could not describe. Something like relief, but her heart was pounding and she felt like she could pass out.

"So, have you decided?"

Sebastian smiled. "I have decided, my master." He took a deep bow before Ciel, "Please allow me to thank you for your generosity."

"Don't be ridiculous, I am only doing it because I have something to gain from it as well," Ciel smirked.

Natalia was wondering what was going on.

The demons exchanged a look before Ciel swiveled in his chair toward Natalia and spoke.

"Natalia, I have a proposition for you."

She listened.

"As you know, Sebastian is under my _employ_, my contract. He has told me everything that happened last night, including your desire to die."

Natalia blushed and looked down. She was embarrassed that Ciel knew so much about her, and appeared so young. Of course, she had to remind herself that he was older than she was, and he was not human.

Ciel was really going to enjoy this game.

"Natalia," he spoke softly, "We have some information that might change your mind about that desire of yours. It might change your life completely."

Natalia listened intently. She was almost afraid to ask. "What could possibly change my life more than it has already changed?"

Ciel and Sebastian looked at each other. Sebastian got up and faced Natalia. He extended his hand and took hers. Her heart began to race.

He grazed along her arm, up her neck, and to her face, where his fingers lingered before he lowered them again to her hands.

"You know now that we are demons. You must be wondering, if we exist, then other beings exist as well,"

She nodded.

"They do." Sebastian confirmed. She continued to listen.

Sebastian continued to hold her hand while Ciel spoke.

"Some of those beings that exist are death gods, or grim reapers. They look human, like we do. They eat, sleep, mate, have friends, and otherwise behave like humans do. They collect souls of those who die. What you saw that night when you first attempted suicide was not a visual hallucination. It was a reaper.

"Reapers and demons do not get along. They resent us for devouring souls, because it means that they cannot collect them. They are in essence cheated out of their job by us.

"Sometimes, reapers blend into the human world. They can do that. They integrate easily into human society, build relationships, etcetera,"

"We want to give you this information because we want you to make an informed decision regarding your soul, and how you want it to be devoured by Sebastian. We do not cheat. We do not lie, at least we will not lie to you, from this point onward. We have no desire to trick you or anyone into giving up their soul. Because once you commit to it, that fact does not change. There is no turning back."

She nodded and kept listening, the whole time wondering what could be so important that they felt the need to tell her in this way. No way did she expect the bomb Ciel was about to drop on her.

"The man you fell in love with is a reaper. Ronald Knox. He has been a reaper for a long time,"

Natalia started perspirating, her breathing quickened, and her world started to spin. She held her hand to her chest, and felt like Ciel's words were drowned, spoken from far away where they could not fully reach her. Sebastian held her firmly to keep her from falling.

"A reaper cannot be killed by a human, Natalia," Ciel continued calmly, "needless to say, you could not have killed Ronald."

Natalia continued to struggle to breathe. She held on to Sebastian as though he were the only thing keeping her in this world.

"He is alive. He is-"

"Stop..." It was a whisper. A plea. She held a hand to her chest to try to help the palpitations. The only thing keeping her in this world were Sebastian's arms.

Ciel acquiesced, and stopped talking to give her a few moments to fully graps the significance of his words.

Ronald. Her Ronald.

_He's alive._

Once again she buried her head in Sebastian's chest before her body collapsed into his arms.


	29. The Cultivation Begins

***I don't own Kuroshitsuji***

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><p>Once again she buried her head in Sebastian's chest before her body collapsed into his arms.<p>

She couldn't stand, she felt her knees giving way beneath her.

_It can't be._

Her mouth moved but no sound came out.

She was ready to believe that Sebastian was a demon. She had seen what he could do, had felt it.

She was even ready to believe that Ciel was as much an innocent boy as she was Anna Freud.

But not her Ronald.

He couldn't be what Ciel called a death god. A grim reaper. Bringer of death. Or whatever other title different civilizations had come up with over the centuries to give a name to what Ciel and Sebastian claimed that her Ronald was.

Her Ronald, who had jumped in front of her at that bar and enchanted her with his beautiful smile and his boyish attitude, and then made her feel special when he continued to seek her out after she initially rejected him. Her Ronald, with the kind heart, who had taken care of his mother while she was ill in the hospital and his father had left them, despite being hard at work on his thesis at the time. Her Ronald, who had just recently graduated with a doctorate degree in physics, and who worked so much overtime at the lab in the university just to help his friends out.

"But I _saw_- he was dead. He _was_..." the visual of Ronald on the floor of his house flooded her mind more easily now with the recency of the other man she had stabbed to death, "...he bled. He..." She shook her head. Sebastian put an arm around her shoulders, appearing almost empathetic, though Ciel could see right through him.

"No," she said, her voice firm now, and pulled away from Sebastian. "I saw a picture of him on his graduation day, with his mother, and he was wearing the cap and gown with the school colors. She was very proud of him, nobody can fake that." _Couldn't they?_

"And, those text messages he used to get from his lab at the university, his lab buddies who needed his help, needed him to go back in to the office to help out." She shook her head at Ciel. He was wrong. He _had_ to be.

Repetition. The first sign that she was beginning to doubt, her defenses beginning to falter. Ciel decided to use this.

"Tell us more then. When you met him, how far along was he into his doctoral studies?" Ciel challenged.

Sebastian was secretly proud of how much his young master had learned about therapy just from eavesdropping on his sessions from time to time.

"He was done with the coursework. He was just working on his thesis. It took him six months after I'd met him to finish," She felt like she was getting defensive. And she was. Her voice was almost an octave higher.

"And then what?" Ciel continued to challenge, but not in mean spirits. He honestly wanted to know the timeline. He was sure he could explain anything to her, all the reaper's lies. Ciel rested his chin on his fist and listened.

"After those six months he graduated, and got a job at the university,"

"_Immediately_ after?"

"Yes! Immediately after..." she started to hear herself, and had to admit it sounded too good to be true. Her hands went up to either temple.

"And he was _that_ good that he was granted so much overtime so quickly? And buy a house?" Ciel knew the reapers often had to work 'overtime' and they didn't appreciate it. Especially Ronald Knox, from what he remembered about him.

"He rented the house, but yes he was..." Natalia's voice got lower, smaller, but her body posture still defensive. Her muscles were tense. She was beginning to believe them, and she felt more confused.

"But if he truly was what you claim he was, why would he ask me to marry him?" She held out her hand, on which she thought she had been wearing the ring. It must have fallen during the struggle with Robert, she thought, because it wasn't there. In actuality, Sebastian had removed it from her finger while she slept. As trivial as it was, it was a symbol of her belonging to another, and in a moment of primitive instinct he didn't want to see it on her hand. It was currently in her jewelry box back at her apartment.

"Because he loved you." Ciel responded.

Natalia shook her head. There were a lot of things she didn't understand, but she was hating that she believed Sebastian and Ciel would not lie. Not to her, not after what they had been through, what they had helped her with. But if she believed they did not lie, then that meant her Ronald had.

"It's my understanding that he wanted you to become a killer, in order for him to turn you into a reaper, like himself," Sebastian explained. He remained calm.

"_What?_" This she had trouble believing. It felt like everything she had thought was real was changing, just like Ciel had warned.

"Think about it." Sebastian said. He didn't approach her again, believing that eventually she would get there.

"You're saying that he wanted me to kill him, so that I could continue to be _with_ him," Natalia said, trying to make sure she had put the pieces they had given her together in the right order. In her mind, the other parts of the equation still just did not compute.

"He wouldn't have died no matter how you killed him. You are just a human after all. He wanted you to become a killer, but instead you became depressed, and then suicidal."

Natalia gaped and sat on the couch, shaking her head, taking in their words. Princess immediately jumped up on her lap. Sebastian smiled.

"He wanted to change you, Natalia," Sebastian stated. It was the truth. It was also a statement that may drive her to do what he wanted her to do.

"How could I _not_ become depressed and suicidal after doing such a terrible thing to the man I loved!"

"Say that to him." Ciel said. He loved a good challenge. If the reaper's girlfriend confronted him, that might break his little heart. That might be amusing for Ciel even if just for a little while. Especially now that he had been practicing the use of his demonic abilities with Sebastian.

"So he really is alive?"

"He lives." Ciel stood up from his chair and walked over to his window.

"But how?" Natalia shook her head trying to find a scenario where it might be okay for Ronald to put her through the pain of making her believe he was dead.

"Sebastian and I have been looking into it for quite a while. I hope you don't mind we took that liberty," Ciel glanced at Natalia to try to assess her expression at his words. "What we know so far is that it appears that reapers have some limited ability to affect a person's mind, though not their free will. In order to make you kill Ronald, they had to trick you. Through his assessment of you, it became apparent to Sebastian that your hallucinations were not genuine. That is to say, they were not organic. They were planted there, faked."

Natalia's face was contorted in confusion. Ciel continued.

"They wanted to put you through a test to see if you in fact were able to become a reaper. If you could kill without changing at your basic human level, that meant you could become one. They planted hallucinations, auditory at first, then visual, to drive you to commit murder, and then assess the result."

Natalia's expression told the two demons that she was beginning to go from confused to angry.

"_Assess_?" Her breathing was choppy, as though she were sobbing, but no tears came out.

Sebastian thought that if he disclosed the fact that Ronald had done the same to other women, and succeeded at least once, it would finish driving Natalia's thinking to the way he wanted it to go. But he also thought that perhaps it was enough information for now. Too much information for one night actually. He looked toward his master to see that Ciel thought the same.

Sebastian spoke, "It's our understanding that he is forbidden from seeing you."

Natalia was pensive. "So... so that night, when I thought I dreamt about him, could that have been...?"

"Most likely." Sebastian nodded. He was sure Ronald had in fact visited her that night she felt his arms around her.

"In doing so he broke the rules. I understand he is somehow restrained now, possibly being watched by a number of his colleagues. He really wanted to be with you. Unfortunately, he didn't seem to care much about what _you_ wanted." Sebastian smirked. He traded the empathetic tone of voice for a mocking one.

There was no way the reaper was getting close to Natalia, even if the other reapers let their guard down. And if he somehow bypassed both his colleagues _and_ Sebastian, Natalia would have nothing to do with him. She would destroy him even with no strength of her own, without even trying.

Because the reason for Sebastian's current actions, his careful choice of words, his general use of empathy even now that she was technically his, was simple. He was cultivating hatred in her soul for the man she once loved with all her being. And that was better than if she believed she murdered him.

Natalia stared at the carpet, "I don't understand. If he loved me how could he have consciously hurt me in that way?"

.

Ciel continued to look out the window. "Demon, human, or reaper, it seems it is not hard to hurt the ones we love."

It crossed Sebastian's mind that his master's words were not entirely directed at Natalia's situation.

After a few moments, Ciel reconsidered the explanation for the other lies the reaper had told that he had intended to give her. She didn't need it after all. "Natalia, you should get some rest."

"I have rested long enough," she responded. Ciel ignored her. "Sebastian, take Natalia away to rest for the remainder of the day." Natalia became upset that he made the decision for her. It was only noon.

"Yes, my lord." Sebastian held his hand out. Natalia hesitated but took it after a few moments, begrudgingly. It seemed to her that not only had she lost all sense of what was real, who to trust, and what to believe, but she felt she was slowly losing the right to make her own decisions as well. She couldn't have known at the time, it was not that she was slowly losing that right, it was that she already had. 


	30. Decision

***I don't own Kuroshitsuji or its characters.***

**amore1993- You were the 100th review! *throws virtual confetti string and does dance of joy.* I am SO happy this has reached that many reviews. I tried to PM you to tell you your prize, but it told me it was disabled. For this, I am granting half of your request, and will _try_ to grant the other half. I say "try" because I _hope_ that the chapters are entertaining (sorry you found them boring :'(), but I don't know what amuses you. Action? Romance? Death? PM me and let me know and I'll do it, as long as it still fits with the core plot of course ^_^**

**I will actually grant a request every 50 reviews starting from the 100th. It's something I saw other authors doing, and I think that's pretty awesome of them.**

**For now, my lovely readers, took me a while to write this, but I hope you enjoy this longer than usual chapter ^_^**

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><p><em><strong>::FunCon T-1 day::<strong>_

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><p>Natalia paced back and forth in the guest room in which she had been set up, conveniently located across the hallway from Sebastian's room. She had been at Ciel and Sebastian's house for exactly three days, two nights. Ciel had healed her face wounds, with Sebastian's direction. He had been "practicing some new skills."<p>

For the duration of her time at their house she had not done much except what they suggested her to do, which was mostly "rest." She ate what Sebastian made, she wore the clothes Sebastian gave her. Unfortunately for her, these all happened to be dresses, so she had the additional inconvenience of having to shave her legs every day. She wasn't allowed to leave the house. She felt like a caged animal. It was getting to be ridiculous.

She hadn't directly been forbidden from leaving, it just so happened that every time she walked toward the front door, whatever time of day or night, Ciel or Sebastian would approach her and completely kill any excuse she might have for leaving:

_-"I want to go out for dinner," _

_"Sebastian will cook."_

_-"I need some of my clothes and make-up,"_

_"Sebastian brought everything from your apartment."_

_-"I just want to check on my place,"_

_"I think it would be best if you didn't go near the scene of the crime at all, for the next few days."_

She was starting to think they didn't _want_ her to leave at all. Ever. She couldn't explain why she couldn't just tell them directly that she needed to leave.

After that bomb of a truth Ciel had dropped on her about Ronald, she needed to get out, get some fresh air. Sebastian had told her to sit in the upstairs patio for a while, the one that overlooked the ocean. When that had proven to not be enough, he had personally 'flown' her -for lack of a better word- up to the very top of the house, the highest point of the roof, and they had sat together for a long time, without talking.

She had had many useful conversations with Sebastian, had disclosed more about herself than she ever had before. He offered her mini-therapy sessions, psychoanalyzed her.

He had not taken it easy on her. In fact, she would say he had been pretty brutal, talking about how her pattern of relationships with men and her docile personality and desire to please others may be explained by her absent father and her narcissistic mother. He had said that with nobody but a self-obsessed woman to look up to through the most important years of development, her adolescence, and being an only child, it was natural that she would constantly seek her mother's approval,

_"...which you will never get, as narcissists can only think of themselves. But since moving out of your mother's house and going away to continue your studies, you have not had another to tell you what mold you should fit into, so to speak..."_

Sebastian had called her "_a narcissistic extension of your mother"_, and she had been molded, "_like cookie dough_" into what others thought she should or could be, in order to make her mother look good.

The most hurtful observation he had made thus far: Ronald treated her the same way.

_"Think about it Natalia. He saw you from across the bar, decided he liked you, but then decided he wanted to change you. You did not meet his expectations. I can't imagine how awful that must feel."_

Not that she wasn't grateful. But she hadn't had a minute alone at all to think things through. Even when she was alone in the guest room she felt like she was being watched at all times. She still hadn't fully processed what it meant that Ron was alive, or what Sebastian had said about him.

_It means Ron lied about everything._

But today was Tuesday. It was a little past noon. Ciel was at school, and Sebastian was with a patient, his only patient of the day. If she called a cab now, it would take twenty minutes to get to the residence, and then she had no cash to pay the driver.

She _could_ just... _no_, she shook her head at the thought. But... _why not?_

She walked downstairs to the foyer, where she knew, in a small desk set underneath a large mirror, inside the small cabinet, Sebastian kept his car keys.

_He doesn't need a car, and I will be back in a short while... _

Without giving herself the opportunity to think about it for another second she took the keys and dashed out of the house.

Sebastian, in his office, hearing the keys in the ignition of the car in his garage, felt the muscles of his jaw tense as he thought _'That woman...' _as he continued to discuss with Dimitri the proper ways of courting a girl that didn't involve stalking or tricking her. He found himself thinking how ironic that was.

* * *

><p>"Hey, Natalia! I ain't seen you here in a long time!" The bartender, Joe, greeted as Natalia walked toward where he stood, on the other side, drying glasses and putting them back on the rack. She sat at the bar. Joe was a big, muscular man with broad shoulders, a bald head, and he always wore a red t-shirt, even though he didn't have a uniform. Natalia had never questioned why.<p>

"Hey Joe! I know, I've been dealing with a lot of shit lately..." for some reason, Joe was one of the few people Natalia felt comfortable enough with to use casual language. Around most others, including Sebastian -or perhaps _especially_ Sebastian- she felt she had to be more formal, more professional, possibly for all the reasons Sebastian had explained. Not Joe. He seemed to bring that out in people, a sense of comfort, that you could be yourself around him and he wouldn't judge.

"I know. I heard about your fiance," he said in a whisper, approaching her and giving her a look that spelled pity.

She nodded, looked down, and gave a smile he interpreted as melancholic.

"I'm so sorry."

"Thanks," she nodded, looking at him and smiling. "Forget about that tonight. It's just me, and I'm up for whatever you decide to serve me."

Joe smiled and got to work on his latest creation. For those who knew Joe, he specialized in creating his own mixed drinks.

"Well have I got something special just for you," he smiled, starting to mix things. Natalia was too pensive to pay attention.

"Here you go. Drink up honey, tonight's on the house," She took a sip and made a face at the bitterness of it at first... then her expression calmed at the aftertaste. "Hmm, it's bitter at first, then sweet. A little spicy too. Yum! What is it?"

"I call it Island Fever,"

"Hmm. Awesome. Thanks," she smiled, then thought about it and added, "Keep 'em coming, 'kay?" Joe smiled. She continued drinking, wondering how long she had before her demon keepers found her.

* * *

><p><em>Quite<em> a few Island Fevers, and many, many hours later, Natalia was positively drunk. The sun was now setting. She'd been there all afternoon trying to think, and was surprised Sebastian hadn't found her. _It's not like he would know about this place or its significance...the place where Ron and I met._

Joe had thought about cutting off her alcohol supply, but he simply did not have the heart. She wasn't being rowdy or anything, so he really didn't have a reason. He could call a cab for her when the time was right. He knew her well enough that he'd done that for her and her friends a few times before. He even remembered where she lived.

She had finally had some time to herself. _On the positive side, at least I'm not really schizophrenic_ she thought, and laughed out loud sarcastically, shaking her head.

_How could Ron do this to me? Was I really not good enough for him? A measly little human... Hahahah! _She started laughing in her mind. Well, she thought it was in her mind. In actuality, she'd laughed out loud, and Joe had to glance at her to make sure she was still alone as she'd requested and some guy wasn't trying to pick her up. Drunk alone in a bar wearing a dress did not a safe young woman make.

Many thoughts went through her mind, specifically the things she would say should she ever see him again. Forget about questioning why, she would tell him exactly what she thought of him. Even her thinking was slurred. _Distinguishab._.. no, d_espicable... ugh, my brain isn't working right now... Among other things_... she thought to herself. Her mind didn't really function at the moment.

Days ago she would have given anything to see him again. Now that she knew the circumstances of everything, she wasn't so sure what, if anything, she would give. How could she forgive that injury? Why _should_ she?

"You came to our spot."

At first she wasn't sure whether the voice was in her head, she hadn't heard it in so long. Then she remembered she was not actually psychotic, though she didn't discount that possibility at first. Her heart began to race, her skin felt warm, she got goosebumps. She turned her head to look at the person who had just sat to the left of her at the bar and felt as though she might get a heart attack. She felt tears form in her eyes, so she had to look away from him.

"Hey babe," he said. His voice was sad. Her expression told him many things, mostly that he really should leave.

She glanced at Joe, at the other side of the bar serving some men in business suits who had just sat. Joe had met Ron a couple times.

"Don't worry, he never really saw what I look like."

She chuckled "_What the fuck are you doing here?_" she whispered, covering her mouth.

"I see you're mad at me."

She gaped, "'_Mad'_ is the understatement of the century, Ronald. Or maybe not, I guess _you_ would know."

"I missed you so much."

"Why are you here?" she asked again, her whisper was venomous. He couldn't blame her.

"I know I don't deserve it, after what I put you through. I just want the opportunity to explain. I just wanna talk to you for a little while."

She shook her head and took a deep breath. She closed her eyes tightly, thinking that when she opened them again he would be gone. He wasn't.

She felt that her heart might break all over again. All this time, thinking he was dead, that she had killed him, the thoughts going through her mind were not as clear due to all the alcohol. And now he was here, right next to her. She wanted to cry, laugh, hug him, slap him, she didn't know which action to take.

She decided to stand up to walk away. Bad choice. As soon as she stood from the barstool she wobbled and had to lean on the bar for support.

Joe noticed and walked over, Ron quickly ducked under so that Joe wouldn't see him. Natalia glared down at him, covering her face from Joe, "You alright, sweetheart?" he asked with concern.

She nodded yes, grateful that Ron had ducked so quickly or there would be some serious explaining to do. Somehow the thought that she had touched a grim reaper and not died was amusing in her current state of mind, and she started to giggle.

Joe nodded and smiled before he turned away to attend the recently arrived customers. The place was quickly getting busy.

She managed to start walking, although everything was blurry and spinning. She somehow made her way over near the back hallway, where the bathrooms were, with Ron following her, making sure she wouldn't fall. Rather than going to the bathroom, she turned the corner toward the exit sign and went out the door toward the back alley. Ron exited after her and closed the door behind them.

Ron looked around. The sun had fallen. The alley was dark and secluded, and inside the music had progressively gotten louder, as well as the drinking customers. This made it a perfect place for them to talk.

"_Urgh_..." Natalia leaned her hand against the wall for support.

"You were always a lightweight," he said, shaking his head, smiling affectionately, "I told you never to get drunk without me or Stefan around, someone could take advantage of you. How many drinks did you have tonight?"

She glared at him.

"Right, the death glare, I'll keep quiet then," Ron smiled. He held his hand up to caress her face, "I never thought I would see you again."

"How did you escape your guard dogs?"

Ron gave her a questioning look.

"Sebastian said that y-"

"Oh. That old demon. He really did tell you everything didn't he?" Ron shook his head.

"No. You just confirmed it." She backed away from him, leaning on the wall for support.

She started to sob and shake her head. Her words were slurred together, chunks of her thinking missing, and slow from being drunk. "I loved you so much Ronald. How could you... making me think you were dead... such an asshole move...who does that?" she shook her head.

"I did it for us."

"But _you_ don't get to decide for _us_. It was a _relationship_. Definition, _two_ people, _two_," she held up two fingers, "in a relationship, who decide things together..." even with slurred speech this made perfect sense to her. She leaned her head back against the wall.

Ron approached her again, bringing his hands to her arms, "I wanted us to be together, without the fear that you would grow old and die and that I might lose you."

She stared at him, "I'm _human_ Ronald, I'm supposed to die someday. You knew that coming into this relationship. You kept what you were from me."

"Would you have gone out with me if I'd told you?"

Her sobbing was almost like a chuckle, but she didn't answer. He took her silence as a 'no.'

"I thought so. You would have thought I was delusional!" he said, waving his arms for dramatic effect. She shook her head and denied it, "No!"

"Yes you would have."

"I... Maybe." She stared at the pavement.

She continued to sob quietly as he cradled her face in his hands. He did feel awful, but he had acted out of love. In his book, that should be forgivable.

Silence enveloped them. There were a lot more things that needed to be said, a lot on her part to ask for clarification, to make demands, to release her anger, and a lot on his part to explain, to ask for her forgiveness, to say how much he loved her, to hope that she could understand.

She turned her head up to face him and glared. She felt pure anger, rising with every silent second. She wanted to slap him, punch him, yell at him, tell him that she thought he was despicable, his actions disgusting. Not only could she not hurt him physically, she wasn't too sure about her coordination anyway. Her heart began to beat faster, and he felt her anger coming out in waves.

Neither of them could explain how the pure anger she felt and the desperation he felt came together to form a completely different reaction.

Natalia couldn't explain how when she went to push him away her hand instead landed on his tie and wrapped itself around it to pull him closer.

They couldn't explain how they seemed to gravitate toward each other like two magnets, that if you bring close enough they will crash into each other no matter what stands in their way.

All thoughts of anger suddenly silenced in her mind, all thoughts of guilt silenced in his, as their hands searched each others' bodies in the darkness of that alley, and as she very suddenly found herself up against the wall with her legs wrapped around his waist, his hands suddenly holding her up by her hips. She found herself wondering where her panties had gone and why it was taking him so long to pull his zipper down.

She gasped when he entered her, almost having forgotten what he felt like, and between her moans and his whispers of "_God, I missed you so much", _neither could have noticed the pair of brightly glowing red eyes that looked down upon them from the top of the building adjacent, himself enveloped in darkness as the building he stood upon began to crack and crumble.

* * *

><p>"Any of you fuckers going to FunCon?" Ciel, AKA Skylar a demon warrior under Emperor Daemonico, asked his guild into the headset. He knew the tickets were hard to come across. They had nearly sold out within the first forty minutes. He knew the likelihood that any of the members of guild were going as well was minuscule.<p>

_"I wouldn't tell _you_ assholes if I was." _

_"Unfortunately due to highly inflated prices of ... everything... I can't."_

_"Yea I couldn't find anyone to take care of the kiddos."_

"You have kids?" Ciel asked Vortex.

_"Duh. Why do you think I'm so maternal online?"_

_"Guess we just thought you were a bossy bitch by nature," _Braynzz said.

_"Ha. Ha."_

_"My boyfriend bought tickets, so I might go,"_ said Pinky.

"Might?" Ciel asked.

_"Yea, I don't know if I'm breaking up with him before or after."_

"Why would you break up with him before? There'd be nothing to gain from that," Ciel asked.

_"Exactly. He's _so_ dependent. He calls me like once a day."_

"Isn't that a good thing?"

Ciel couldn't hear the girl's response. At that moment he felt the dark, angry, jealous presence of his butler. "B.R.B.," he said into his headset and logged off.

"What crawled up _your_ ass and died?"

Sebastian gave Ciel a glare that told him he was truly and utterly pissed off. Ciel opted to refrain from insulting his demon mentor further, not out of fear, but out of respect. Yes, he had _some_ respect after all.

"What's going on?" he asked earnestly. "Is this to do with Natalia? I noticed her absence."

Sebastian didn't answer, so Ciel took that as a 'yes.'

Ciel rolled his eyes. He sat on the couch, turned on the TV, and started switching the channels. "I told you, you shouldn't have let her get out of the house so soon. Human women are impulsive. What did she do, go out, get drunk and let some stranger hit it?"

"It was the reaper," Sebastian replied through gritted teeth, having calmed down a lot more than he was before.

_"...leaving millions of dollars in damages in its wake..." _Ciel stopped at the local news channel. They were showing a map on the screen that showed a fault line running the entire area from downtown to the shore, close to where his own house was. It was about thirty miles.

He turned to glare at his butler, who had apparently calmed down enough so that his aura was now back to normal, and his eyes no longer glowing.

_"Sebastiaaaaannn!_" he whined "_What the fuck_? Was that you?" He asked pointing at the television and looking accusingly and angrily at his butler.

His master's whining and anger seemed to have touched something in Sebastian, as he suddenly felt almost embarrassed at his inability to control the jealousy he had felt upon seeing Natalia _with_ the reaper. Perhaps it was the fact that he was supposed to be a good role model for the younger demon, and instead he was acting like a territorial male.

"I_ am_ terribly sorry, master. If it's any consolation, it was said to have been an earthquake."

Ciel sighed in frustration and rolled his eyes.

"If seeing her with the reaper bothered you so much why didn't you interrupt them?"

Sebastian gave Ciel a look that questioned whether the master could possibly be serious.

"Oh, I see. It wouldn't be much of a challenge," Ciel smirked.

"Well, at least now you know I was right. You should have made the covenant, then he'd have no claim. You'll have to do it tonight. Contract her soul in exchange for revenge on him. I want to see that reaper _cry_." Ciel said with a sadistic expression on his face.

"Pardon me for asking, master, but _why_ exactly do you want to see the reaper suffer. Not that I mind."

"Because of fun," the younger demon responded as though this should have been obvious. "And because I have no use for a butler who is that hungry that he'll let a rookie reaper get in the way of his meal," he smirked.

"You seem so sure she will accept your terms."

"She is a good soul, with pure intentions and a meaningful purpose in the world, and that murderous 'tiger mother' thing which she takes quite literally, even to protect someone such as myself, definitely makes her more interesting. I find it highly amusing." Ciel became pensive.

"But she is weak when it comes to you and I, in case you hadn't noticed. You can bend her to your will. _He_ can't. Not anymore. And if you can't then you probably don't want that meal badly enough," he glanced at his butler from the corner of his eyes. Sebastian's expression darkened, obviously irritated by the remark, just as Ciel had intended.

"Regardless of whom she might wake up with tomorrow, she won't return to him forever."

* * *

><p><em><strong>::FunCon- Morning of, Day 1!::<strong>_

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><p>Natalia woke up the next morning in a bed. She also woke up with a headache too big to open her eyes and look around the room to see where they had ended up going to. The room was bright, the sun came in through the cracks in the window, and the light-colored shades were not helping.<p>

She looked around to see she was in her bedroom. It was very clean, except for the articles of clothing all over the bedroom floor, and over the bedroom lamps. She sat up and wrapped herself in the blanket that just happened to be covering her already.

She didn't have to turn around to know that she was alone in the bed. She felt a heaviness in her heart for about two seconds before she heard noises from the kitchen and walked over to find Ron making breakfast.

"Mornin' babe" he beamed. It was the first time she saw him in an apron. She automatically covered her nose, the smell of eggs and bacon making her nauseous.

"I thought you were a vegetarian," she accused, looking at the bacon, then at him. He smirked. "I am, but you're not." He set a plate in front of her and she thought she would gag, and not just at the food. She ran to the bathroom to get away from it all.

Ron heard her turn on the shower.

It was about twenty minutes before he finally decided to knock on the door.

"Babe, your breakfast is pretty cold. Are you coming out? Come on, I made bacon. You know how I hate cooking real meat."

There was no answer. He was about to go in when the door opened and she came out, wrapped in a towel. He smiled. She didn't. She walked right past him, into her bedroom, got dressed in something comfortable, _other_ than a dress, and didn't talk to him through the entire process as he stood at the doorway of her bedroom. He noticed some of the wounds on her body that he had not noticed last night in the dark. Especially a bruise that still adorned her left arm.

She noticed him looking.

"You need to eat something, babe."

"Stop," she shut her eyes and held her hand up to him, pointing her index finger, "stop calling me that," she shook her head.

"I am not your 'babe', Ron."

Silence.

"I see," he said. She had made up her mind. "And last night was just..."

"Last night was just last night. Last night doesn't change anything. You made your choice," she shook her head. "I can't forgive you for that."

He felt anger rise up inside him, but not toward her. Never toward her. "That demon..." he mutterred.

"_That demon_ is the only being who has offered me more than an 'I'm sorry',"

"He's just toying with you-"

"No. _You_ toyed with me!" She escalated, raising her voice, anger finally coming out, "You made me believe you were dead! You made me believe I had killed you. You had your 'people' _violate my mind!_" tears began to stream down her cheeks, "And then you _abandoned_ me _just that easily. You _left_ me, _Ronald_." _She sniffed and wiped away her tears with her sleeves.

She was finally beginning to feel more free, as though a burden was being lifted from her. The burden of murder, to be precise. Because Robert didn't really count.

"I can't believe you think you could so easily turn me into a killer. Did it ever occur to you that I might like being human? That I might like my life the way it was. You took that from me. Did you think that I, who loved you with all of my soul, would want to continue living without you?" She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down. She _had_ made her decision.

"I tried to kill myself over your death! Twice. You _selfish, arrogant, bastard_! I don't ever want to see you again!" She stormed past him, pushing him out of the way, leaving him speechless at her bedroom doorway.

She walked toward the front door and opened it, to find her dark savior, as though he knew exactly when she needed him, as though he was just waiting for her to return to him. She glanced back one last time at Ronald, still at her bedroom doorway, then took a step toward Sebastian.

"Ready?" he asked.

She nodded. "He'll be okay?" She asked.

He smirked. "He'll live."

She nodded again, determination and resolve forming in her face, and he enjoyed it so much he thought he could forgive her little slip last night.

"Burn it."

He smirked, taking her by the hand. "As you wish."

He extended his other hand toward the entrance, and in seconds, her apartment, the remnants of her old life, her memories with Ronald, everything, was consumed by flames, as Sebastian took Natalia in his arms and got them out of the vicinity.

Ronald watched from above, Natalia watched from the sidewalk below, where Sebastian had had her out of harm's way in seconds. Even with the early morning light nobody had noticed the man clad in black carrying the woman in the long sleeved shirt out through the window, landing safely on the pavement below. The firemen would be unable to explain later why none of the adjacent condos were harmed by the fire.

Sebastian's voice took Natalia out of her trance. "Shall we?" he smiled, opening the front door of the vehicle she had taken before. She didn't need to ask how it came to be under his possession again. _Just like me_, she thought.

"Good to see you again, Natalia," Ciel's voice came from the back seat. She turned to him and smiled. He looked like a normal boy, sitting in the back seat with his seatbelt on, and suitcases around him, looking out the window.

"Sebastian, get a move on, we're going to be late."

"Yes, my lord," Sebastian closed Natalia's door and walked around the car to the driver's seat.

"Don't worry, I had Sebastian pack you a suitcase."

"Where are we going?" she asked as Sebastian got in and closed his door. He smiled at her.

"The airport. We're going to a place where we can forget, at least for a few days, that this never happened," Ciel responded.

Natalia's face still questioning.

"New York FunCon!" Ciel exclaimed, making Natalia smile.

"Sebastian, _step on it_!"

"Yes, my lord."

* * *

><p>So, I hope that was at least slightly more enjoyable ... :[<p>

The next chapter will probably be more fun/silly/game addiction related nonsense than the entire story has ever been. It'll be more like the bits where you see Ciel play, because it's FUNCON BITCHES!


	31. It's FunCon Bitches!

***I don't own Kuroshitsuji or its characters.***

***Seb/Nat sex scene? Make sure you respond to the poll, in my profile page now. It's important to me to know what you as the readers want. I'm not writing this story just for myself anymore, I will write it as you request it ^_^***

**Thank you for your reviews! I'm so happy the previous chapter was generally well-liked. I was nervous about how I wrote Ron, because I realized that he turned out to be an immature asshole! I was surprised at that myself. You know how sometimes the characters in your stories write themselves? Well, even though Ronald Knox is not mine, the way I wrote him, he just came out like an asshole in my story, which is weird because I really like him... oh well. *shrugs*.**

**And Natalia, well, I didn't realize what a pushover she had turned out to be, so I wanted her to at least stand up to him.**

**Her relationship with Sebastian is not like her relationship with Ron at all; even though he manipulates her emotions, in the end he lets her make her own choices, even if he doesn't like them, unlike Ron, who doesn't let her have a voice and doesn't admit that he might have fucked up. ^_^**

**My notes on this: on the psychological side, I think the reason for Ron being this way with Natalia is that she is kind of the opposite of Mey Rin. Mey is totally confident (in my story anyway, and as a sniper in the manga/anime), strong, stands up for herself, _and_ she ended up dumping him, which totally hurt his ego. By being this way with a mortal woman, he kind of ensures that he dominates the relationship, thereby protecting his reaper male ego. **He won't give up though. She may just be a human, but now with Sebastian so obviously in the picture, shit just got real. It's not about her so much, it's about not losing to a demon.****

**Anyway, enough with my superlong A/N. On with the story! **

* * *

><p><strong>::FunCon! -Day 1-::<strong>

_**Ciel's Itinerary:**_

**8:00am-10:00am: _Phantomhive Knights_: Funtom Corp Presidents Past and Present (_skippable, will miss because of late flight- guilt trip Natalia over this all day-_)**

**11:00am- 1:00pm: In-Game 3D Experience! (_daily- may walk around exhibit floor instead_)**

**3:00pm-4:30pm: How to Acquire Better Loot: An Overview of Drop Rates, Statistics, and Tips on How to Get your Favorite Epic Items (_cannot miss_)**

**5:30pm-6:00pm: Funtom's Female Character Design: A closer look at the psychology behind our favorite PhantomHive Princesses**

**6:30pm-8:00pm: _Phantompocalypse_! What's next on the PhantomHive Gaming To-Do List.**

**7:00pm-9:00pm: Phantom Empire Gaming Tournament, Round 1 (_time conflict_)**

**8:00pm-midnight: Funtom Masquerade**

* * *

><p>"What the heck is <em>this<em>? Sebastian? Is this your idea of a joke?" Natalia exclaimed, looking down at the outfits that Sebastian had packed for her.

She held up a tiny, flimsy cosplay, which she recognized as the robes of Empress Elfeera, the wife of Emperor Daemonico from _Phantom Empire_, which just so happened to be nothing more than two strips of cloth that covered each breast (well exposed more of it that it covered), a small see-through skirt with slits on the sides, and a bikini-like leather undergarment under that, with other strappy leather accessories.

There was a bottle of red body paint and a black sharpie marker, as Empress Elfeera's skin was red with black designs tattooed all over her skin, and a set of little curved horns. A Slave Leia costume covered more skin than this.

"I'm afraid that was not _my_ idea," Sebastian responded, making Natalia glance over at Ciel, who stood there staring at her with a creepy smirk.

"You _ordered_ him to pack this stuff didn't you?" Natalia accused, shaking her head, looking through skanky outfit after skankier outfit in the suitcase Sebastian had packed for her.

Ciel simply shrugged and walked out of Natalia's bedroom to his, to set up his computer in the corner desk. They had reserved a three bedroom suite in the hotel adjacent to the convention center. This ensured they each had their privacy.

"Little pervert..."

Hearing this, Ciel yelled from his bedroom, "I wasn't doing _myself_ any favors!"

"You _let_ this happen?" she stared accusingly at Sebastian now, who stood behind her as she unpacked, with the excuse of wanting to help her (Ciel had dismissed him, saying if he helped set up his computer he would "royally fuck it up").

"I had no choice," he said innocently, "I do as he orders."

"What am I supposed to wear?"

"Hmm... I believe there are about fifteen different costumes to choose from..." he began, taking out the garments one by one. He kept a serious expression on his face.

"You can't be serious. I will look like a prostitute."

Sebastian chuckled. Natalia looked at him and smiled.

"I've never really seen you do that," she observed. She made eye contact with him for a few seconds, then looked away, blushing.

Ever since that shower incident she found she could not maintain eye contact with him for longer than just a few seconds. He had also noticed this.

She looked away from him and cleared her throat. "Why must all the female game characters dress in such tiny garments?" she complained, trying to focus on something other than his eyes.

Sebastian looked pensive, "I don't think that's true," he picked up a purple robe and read the tag, "There are these 'Epic Priest Robes,' and..."

He stopped there, finding nothing else to support his statement.

"Exactly," she said.

Sebastian put a finger to chin as he thought, "Hm... I must agree. Though I have seen more of your body than these garments show I am not fond of you being seen in public in one of these... "

Natalia blushed.

Sebastian smiled, "Perhaps you can bring up that question in one of the panel discussions in today's itinerary," Sebastian held up the itinerary.

"Oh my..." Natalia took it, looked at Sebastian, who nodded, and then she laughed quietly as she held her copy of the itinerary Ciel had created for them. It was printed in clear bold letters, bordered, and _laminated_.

"He really takes this stuff seriously..."

Sebastian nodded, still smiling.

* * *

><p>Having decided on the priest robes, Natalia decided to rest for a couple hours, much to Ciel's dismay. He had forgotten how easily humans tire. It was Sebastian who had reminded him that the three hour flight would give a human jet lag, and that if they brought her along into the convention center as she was, she may last only two, maybe three hours before she had to return to the hotel, and that would waste more time. Since it was still early for the panel he truly could not miss, he decided he would give her an hour and a half to rest.<p>

"You can leave without me," she had started to say, before he interrupted to say "So you can try to leave us again? I don't think so. Besides, once I set foot in that convention I don't intend to be interrupted by anything or anyone, understood?"

"Why don't you just go by yourself then? It's not like you'd get kidnapped..." she started to reason but his glare shut her up.

Through gritted teeth he answered her question, "Because they don't allow unsupervised minors," at which Sebastian chuckled for the second time that day.

* * *

><p>"Wake up!" Natalia's eyes flew open at being startled by Ciel's shaking.<p>

She groaned and sat up, rubbing her eyes. She had fallen asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. She looked at the clock.

"You said an hour and a half! It's only been one hour!"

"I can't wait that long, there's a thing in two hours that I want to go to and we have to get in line _now, _before they close it. My app says the line is almost full," he said looking at his smart phone.

She chuckled at this. "There's an app for that?"

"Here," he handed her a hot cup of coffee, ignoring her comment, then throwing her the priest robes she had chosen earlier, "Put that on."

Sebastian stood at the doorway and tried hard not to laugh. It. Was. Hard. His master had always been insatiable when it came to games. _A child at heart_. Especially in his current outfit.

Natalia had not had a chance to notice. When she finally did, it really did wake her up.

"Oh my...wow..." her eyes wide, apparently amazed at Ciel's cosplay.

He wore what one could describe as knight's armor, except it looked like it was made of golden snake skin. Because she played the game at one point, Natalia recognized it as...

"Is that the Legendary Armor of the Golden Dragon?" she gaped.

"Yep," the young demon smirked in satisfaction, turning around in his suit to show off.

"...with the limited edition pauldrons..." she pointed at his shoulders.

"Correct. I made it myself."

_Bullshit._

Sebastian 'coughed'. Ciel rolled his eyes, "I _bought_ it myself, from a professional online, had it custom made..." he glared at Sebastian.

"That is _so amazing_!"

"I know. Now come on, get ready."

"Can't I just go like this?"

"No!"

"Okay, okay, give me ten minutes..." she held up her hands in defense.

"I'm giving you five."

* * *

><p>"Why is he not making <em>you<em> dress up?" Natalia asked, looking up at Sebastian from under the purple hood of the Epic Priest Robes. They were in the elevator going down to the exhibit floor. He wore his usual clothing, only except for the usual dark sport coat, he wore a longer black coat, such as he had worn to the hospital. This was the first time she noticed just how handsome he truly was, and how good he looked in just the clothes he usually wore... he looked down at her and smiled, making her blush and look away again, shaking those thoughts out of her mind.

"There's no need for him to dress up today," Ciel responded.

"And there was a need for me to do so?"

Ciel glared up at her, giving her shivers. Sebastian leaned in and whispered in her ear, "Just go with it." Natalia felt goosebumps at the back of her neck and looked downward before she was able to compose herself.

"Today? You said there was no need for him to dress up _today_. That means you're..."

"The master does have something prepared for me, I believe for tomorrow. He is just a bit... secretive at the moment as to what exactly that will be," Sebastian maintained a smile on his face, all the while thinking '_that brat...'_

Natalia nodded. _That will be fun..._

"I'm still not wearing those other outfits. It's indecent." She added.

"And fucking in an alley isn't?" Ciel asked casually.

"_How did you know about that_? And, language!" She scolded.

"I've told you before, I'm older than you. Stop infantilizing me."

"Oh, that's a bit hard right now, _my lord_," she said sarcastically, imitating Sebastian's English accent. She was quite upset at how Ciel had accused her. _I'm a grown woman, I can sleep with whoever I want..._ she thought. She took a deep breath to calm down. She was determined to enjoy her time at the con, and forget about Ron at least for the next few days.

"Either way, thank you for bringing me. I've never been to a FunCon before, I can't wait to see what they have going on."

"Me too." Ciel sounded somewhat impatient.

"It does sound quite interesting," Sebastian added.

_Ding_! The door to the elevator opened.

"Here we a-" Natalia started to say, before Ciel grabbed her by the sleeve and dragged her away into the exhibit floor, Sebastian shaking his head and following them.

The exhibit floor itself was grandiose. There were six entrances in the front, six in the back. As soon as they entered through the center doors they came face to face with a giant statue of Emperor Daemonico, from the new game expansion.

Some of the artwork had been released previously (that's how cosplayers knew what his wife, the Empress Elfeera, looked like), but today was the first time they were releasing the game officially. So it was wild.

As they gaped at the statue of Emperor Daemonico, looking quite fierce mounted on his three-headed tiger and holding his broadsword up high, three very skinny young women happened to be walking by them chatting away and giggling. They each wore the robes of Empress Elfeera, along with the leather open toed boots, only theirs were somehow skankier, and needless to point out that they were showing _way_ too much skin.

Upon spotting Ciel they all pointed at him, walked to thim, and _Aww'ed_, saying "Look! How cute! What a cute kid! OMG!", one pinched his cheek, making the young demon blush, then continued walking. Ciel followed them with his eyes, checking them out, and Natalia noticed and smirked. Sebastian continued to admire the statue.

"See Natalia, you would not have been the only one," Ciel pointed out. Natalia raised an eyebrow at him and smiled. _Preteen, _she thought.

Sebastian looked at the young women. "Yes, I definitely would not be fond of you walking around dressed like _that_," he said seriously.

Ciel walked around looking as happy as a fat kid at a Cheesecake Factory, feeling very ADHD at the moment, letting his huge, enthusiastic eyes go from the statue of Emperor Daemonico, to the television sets playing the new expansion trailer, to the group of geeks on computers having a mini-tournament that was being televised over here, to the mini dance competition going on over there... from where they stood he could see waaaay at the other end of the exhibit floor, the area set up for the In-Game 3D Experience. He was not going to try to get into it today, _but tomorrow, that floor will be mine!_

There was a panel going on upstairs, a sneak preview into the new expansion content, that many people had already tried to get into. Although the room was already closed, there were masses of people who stood outside the room, and formed a line from upstairs, down one flight of stairs, and extended into the exhibit hall through one of the entrances. Ciel looked at them and laughed. They weren't getting in and yet they waited. He already had his copy. _Losers._

They would have walked around the exhibit floor for a while to begin to get acquainted with the different booths. That was on the itinerary.

But Ciel wanted to get in line for the 3:00pm panel on "How to Acquire Better Loot." It was 1:00pm, but he said that his app was telling him the line was about to close due to how long it already was, so he rushed them through the exhibit floor, out through one of the back exits, and up an escalator, all the while weaving through the masses of people, many of them in cosplay, and many of them admiring Ciel's costume.

Some people even stopped to take pictures of/with Ciel, but Natalia noticed that he would only agree to take pictures with pretty, blonde, teenage girls, whether they were in cosplay or not. She thought this was interesting, and wanted to ask if he somehow possibly preferred the souls of blonde girls, but then realized how stupid of a question that would be. The color of someone's hair would obviously have nothing to do with their souls or how they tasted.

For instance, Sebastian had told her one of the reasons she tasted good was because of what Ron put her through. Of course, Sebastian had explained it more eloquently.

There were actually security cameras everywhere, or Ciel would have rushed through the crowds. At his demon speed, he surely would have been noticed. So he grew impatient walking at normal human speed, dragging Natalia along by the sleeve of her Epic Priest Robes. Every now and then Natalia would look back at Sebastian, who would smile at her, making her blush and smile back. _Man, I'm blushing a lot today..._

When they finally arrived at the back of the line Ciel groaned. It must have been a mile and a half long. Of course, every gamer worth their salt would be wanting to attend this one, and Ciel was _one hell_ of a gamer. So long line or not, they would suck it up.

* * *

><p>They waited in line for two hours. The conversation had soon become dull, as there was not much they wanted to say that could be said in public.<p>

Ciel was too excited to talk, and he currently found Sebastian and Natalia boring anyway. He technically could stand for hours, days, weeks, without tiring, but he wanted this show to start already!

Natalia began to wonder if it would be possible for Ciel to maybe scare people into leaving the queue. She was getting tired of standing, didn't want to sit on the ground and possibly ruin her costume, and rumors were starting to go around that the line would actually be cut in half, and the second half of people which included them would not be allowed in.

Besides, being stuck in line, it was hard for Ciel to avoid having his picture taken with/by others, and he made such grouchy faces. She had asked him why he went in cosplay if he did not want to be noticed, and he had just glared at her and scooted over more toward Sebastian.

"Hey Ciel," she bent down to talk at his level and leaned in closer to avoid being heard by the others.

"What if..." she whispered her plan into his ear.

He listened, nodding, "Hmm, could work..." Sebastian listened and raised an eyebrow, thinking that perhaps they were a bad influence on his human.

She finished talking and backed away to assess his expression, smiling. He looked at her, smirked mischievously, and then turned toward the person standing in front of him. He tapped her on the shoulder.

She was a blonde girl with green eyes and long wavy hair, looked about seventeen. She seemed to be alone, and was in cosplay as an Elven Assassin, with the black leather pants and chain mail over her shoulders and head as a hood. She even had the daggers in holsters on either hip. It looked pretty cool. Natalia wondered, _even something like this would have been alright by me, but noooo._...

Then she realized...

_Uh-oh_, _he has a weakness for those girls, he's not going to do it! _She almost wanted to smack her hand against her head.

Sebastian noticed what Natalia didn't, as she had of course never met the Lady Elizabeth.

"_What?_" The girl spat out, obviously very annoyed.

Just as Natalia thought, Ciel blushed. Natalia sighed.

Ciel was speechless for a while. The girl looked very much like a bitchy, 17 year old version of Lizzy. She raised an eyebrow waiting for him to say something. He said, "Nothing, sorry, I thought you were someone else..."

"Ugh...stupid..." the girl shook her head, rolled her eyes, and turned away.

Ciel thought he recognized her voice. If not for her attitude, he would never have known.

"_Pinky?_"

Natalia and Sebastian looked at each other. Sebastian, recognizing that name from the young master's guild, began to laugh, and had to cover his face with both hands. Natalia tilted her head. They both immediately turned their attention back to the younger pair.

The girl seemed to freeze, then sloooowly turn around to face him again, her face in an expression of horror.

Ciel began to laugh, mockingly.

"It's Skylar," he began to say more but she held up her hand.

"Don't talk to me." With that, she turned away.

Sebastian _had_ to turn around to keep the master from seeing him.

"If you laugh out loud I will kill you." Ciel said, glaring at him. So he had to lower his head and completely bury it in both his hands.

Natalia looked pretty horrified. _What an awful girl_... she thought.

"That wasn't funny, Sebastian," she whispered, jabbing at his ribs.

Sebastian was able to contain his laughter. "You are right, I apologize my lo-"

"_Sh!_" Ciel stopped him, then whispered, "remember what we talked about, no 'my lord's or 'yes master's at the con. Others might hear. _Dumbass_..." he mumbled the last part as he turned away from his butler, shaking his head. Sebastian was biting his bottom lip to keep from laughing again.

"_WOOOOO! YEAAAAHH_!" was heard from ahead of them.

"The line is moving!" Natalia exclaimed.

* * *

><p>"Oh my Gee. That was SO useful! I cannot wait to start using those tips!" Natalia said.<p>

"I know," Ciel said, not as excitedly as one would expect.

"We have to get in line for the next one," He was quite serious. He hadn't laughed or smiled at all throughout the panel. Of course, he had been too busy taking notes at super light speed, (Sebastian and Natalia gaping at him and his little notebook in awe and amusement) but Natalia couldn't help but think it may have to do with that girl from before.

As they walked, Ciel leading them to the next panel room, she grinned, thinking of something that would most certainly get the young demon angry with her.

She built up her courage before speaking in as honey a tone as she could, "Hey, Ciel,"

"Yes?"

"Who was that girl from before?"

"What girl? There are lots of girls here. You need to be more specific if you want people to understand you," he kept walking, expecting the others to keep up with him. Natalia was having a hard time doing so, and almost had to jog to keep up with him. Sebastian's long strides made it much easier for him, but he stayed behind Natalia, amused at watching her try.

Sebastian, once again, covered his mouth at his master's response.

"You know, the cute blonde, the one who was standing in front of us in line?" Ciel shrugged, ignored, and continued to walk, "The one you called _Pinky_?"

"Nobody." He stopped in the middle of the hallway and pretended to look around for the next room.

"Really?"

"Really." He opened a map of the convention center and pretended to look at it, "Hmm, we're supposed to be here..." he began to mumble to himself.

Natalia and Sebastian shared a glance, Natalia narrowing her eyes at Sebastian's amused expression. She shook her head and turned back to the younger demon.

"I was just wondering, you know, because she seemed to recognize you, and you her."

"Oh you caught that, you must be some kind of _human behavior specialist_," he said sarcastically.

"No need to be rude," Natalia defended. "Besides, you're no human."

Ciel glared at her, and turned around, noticing a little girl holding her mom's hand had heard and was looking at Ciel in amazement. He gave Natalia a look of 'Now you've done it,' before she quickly added, "Because you're a demon warrior for Emperor Daemonico!" and beamed at the girl.

The little girl's eyes got wider and she said "Mommy! Mommy! Look!" The mom said "That's nice sweetie," without looking and continued to walk.

"Sebastian,"

"Yes, my... Yes?" He stopped himself just in time, Ciel was about to shoot a glare his way too.

"Find Hall D."

He nodded, did a mini bow, and took off, remembering to walk at normal human speed lest they be noticed. He was still back in seconds.

"It's around the corner."

Natalia waited for a different response from Ciel, who continued to ignore her and walked in the direction Sebastian had pointed, followed by a slightly annoyed Natalia, and then Sebastian behind her.

They were happy to see the line was not very long. Still, with only fifty minutes before the panel started, Ciel did not want to risk going down to the exhibit floor and then losing his place in line, or worse, not being able to get in at all.

"What's this panel again?" Natalia asked.

"Didn't you read your itinerary?" Ciel glared, still upset about before.

"I left it in the-" she was interrupted by Sebastian's hand before her, holding the itinerary, "Oh," she smiled and took it.

"Funtom's Female Character Design: A closer look at the psychology behind our favorite PhantomHive Princesses," she read, "Hm... that sounds pretty interesting," she finished, wondering why on earth Ciel would be interested in attending this specific panel.

_Half an hour later..._

"Are you enjoying yourself?"

Natalia glanced up at Sebastian. She had been leaning on the wall, tired of standing, and had closed her eyes. He had leaned in to talk to her.

"Generally, yes," she answered. "Truthfully, all this standing in lines is kind of killing my feet," she chuckled, trying to make light of it.

Sebastian looked pensive, "I do apologize, I didn't think of bringing a foldable chair for you," he leaned in further and said in almost a whisper, "demons can go for hours and hours without tiring," he smirked.

Natalia cleared her throat and looked away. _Had he meant that as an innuendo or was her mind just in the gutter?_

"I do seem to be causing you to blush quite often today," he noted. "Is there something on your mind?"

She took a deep breath, finally saying what was really making her blush. "It's just that... Ciel knew about Ron and I last night..." she whispered, and looked at him quite seriously. "How could he have known the um... location..."

Sebastian's expression became colder, to the point where she could not finish her sentence and instead pursed her lips. It was like he was looking at her as though she'd killed a kitten, and needed to be punished. The vibe she got from him, she was grateful that they were in public. If they weren't she didn't know what he would do to her.

When he raised his hand to her face she jumped a little, expecting something other than the gentle touch he gave instead. He smirked, "Just the thought of someone else touching you... makes me sick."

Ciel seemed to notice, and didn't miss how eerily familiar this was to him. Wanting to make the tension go away, he literally stuck his head between them with "Get a fucking room," and shook his head, making the older demon turn down to look at his master and smile, responding "I do not know what you mean," while Natalia suffered a very convenient "coughing fit."

Once that time came and the line started moving, it seemed to revive all the other people who stood in the queue, who had been either sitting on the floor, leaning against the wall, or shutting their eyes leaning on other people.

People started to flow into the small panel room, each taking a seat of their choosing. Ciel, seeming to have forgotten about his earlier anger, sat closer to the front, smirking at the other two people behind him whom he had heard talk about wanting to sit on those exact seats.

_'What an asshole!'_ one of them said, to be met by a quick flash of glowing red eyes from the butler that scared them into sitting closer to the back and away from the demons and their companion.

Ciel glared at Sebastian for his actions, who shrugged in defense, causing the master to simply shake his head.

It was a few minutes before the panel discussion started. People were still being let in, albeit quietly taking a seat. The room was large enough that the people in the front rows were not disturbed by this, and Ciel, Natalia, and Sebastian were among these rows that went undisturbed.

A man who looked to be in his mid 40's, with graying hair, a moustache and stub on his chin, wearing a yellow shirt with the PhantomHive logo walked up to the podium to the far left of the stage. A long table had been set up next to that podium, with enough seating for six more chairs.

"Hello everyone!" He paused, waiting for them to be quiet. He had a huge smile on his face and one could tell he was honestly excited to be there.

"Welcome to FunCon 2011!" He yelled out.

Screams of enthusiasm filled the room. One of them was Ciel's. Brief, but it was his "YEAH!" Natalia and Sebastian looked at each other and smiled.

The man continued to welcome the crowd to FunCon before he briefly talked about the convention as a whole and how he has had the honor of participating in every single one of them, as he'd been with the company for years and years...

Ciel tuned him out until he began to announce the panel and the people invited to the discussion.

"... as we all know our PhantomHive Princesses are very near and dear to our hearts, and not just for being hot..." (laughter and cheers from the crowd, mostly male cheers, was heard) "...but also their incredible ability to KICK ASS..." (more cheers) "... makes incognito appearances at FunTom Stores around the world..." (laughter) "... and a self proclaimed misanthrope, as you all know, she doesn't really like to come out in public much..." (silence, as everyone thought they knew who to expect) "... so without further ado, everyone please welcome the mind behind the female characters in Wrath of Emperor Daemonico, and our beloved President and CEO, Felice Brightmore!"

Unbelievable cheering came from the crowd as their truly beloved, misanthropic, camera-shy president walked up to the stage, waving excitedly at the crowd with both hands high in the air, beaming and overall with a more positive attitude than anyone could have expected from the young girl who had prematurely inherited an empire.

The young girl with bright green eyes and the smile that 122 years ago had always made his day.

Even Sebastian's face went ashen as his young master leaned forward in his chair, his little demon heart actually starting to beat in a strong emotion he had not felt in over one hundred years.

Yes, her hair was a different color, but the resemblance in person was so _uncanny_ that upon seeing her face up close for the first time, not through a website or the pages of a magazine, Ciel could not stop staring as her name escaped his lips,

"_Lizzy?_"

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><p>CLIFFHANGER! I hope that was entertaining!<p>

Again, make sure you answer the poll in my profile! I want to know what YOU want!

Sorry if there are typos, I wanted to post this now because I want to be better at updating weekly :D


	32. Parallels

**Before anything else happens I sincerely want to apologize from the bottom of my heart that I have not updated in a long time. Life happens. I am really struggling guys, the writing muses have not been so kind to me lately, and I'd rather not do anything than do something totally crappy. Forgive me for this chapter, it kinda sucks, but I wanted to let you all know that I am still here :(. **

**Thank you to all you who reviewed since the last chapter I posted, and to those who have subscribed or added the story or me to your favorites! I love you guys :D**

***I do not own Kuroshitsuji or its characters.* ^_^**

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><p>Natalia noticed that as soon as Felice was introduced, security seemed to become much tighter. Two security guards positioned themselves at either end of the stage, and two on the floor. In addition to those four, when Natalia glanced toward the door she noticed a red-haired woman in a suit and frameless glasses walk in, and two more security men guarded the entrance behind her. The red-haired woman seemed to be in charge of security, as evidenced by her headset and the apparent gun holster on her waist, hidden by the jacket she wore.<p>

_Must be a precaution because Felice is high profile_, she thought.

Sebastian noticed the heavy security when Natalia did, with the exception that he recognized the red-haired "security guard" as Mey Rin.

_She did say she was in the States on a special assignment_, he thought, wondering what exactly may be about to happen.

Mey Rin positioned herself along the center of the back wall, behind the audience, from where she could surely see everything that was going on. She, of course, noticed Sebastian, and smiled briefly at the demon before turning her attention to the room as a whole. Sebastian turned around, his attention back on the discussion and on his master, who was dumbstruck.

Four other people were introduced to the panel discussion: a woman with black hair and pink highlights who was introduced as the creative director of the entire PhantomHive Entertainment wing, and three other men who worked on concept art and graphic design.

Ciel recognized one of the men's names as the illustrator/historian of the biography he owned, _Phantomhive Empire: the Rise, Fall, and Rise of the Funtom Company,_ Jed Witte. The five sat along the table in the order in which they came, starting with Felice sitting the closest to the podium.

"Hi everyone!" she addressed the audience, huge smile still in place, "First of all, let me thank you all so much for coming to our convention. It means _so_ much to us to have such dedicated fans. Seriously, our company would not be what it is now if it weren't for all of you!"

The audience cheered.

"People really love her," Natalia noted, only to get a short "Seems that way," from Ciel, after which she promptly backed away.

The discussion continued with some words of gratitude to her staff for being present, an introduction to the reason behind this panel discussion,

"As you all- I'm sure- noticed, mostly all of the new NPC's and our main characters in Wrath are women, except for the Emperor of course...we get a lot of emails from people who are wondering why- what- what goes into the creation of these amazing female characters, where does it all come from..."

"...historically we've had mostly male characters as the heroes and villains of the Empire, it just seems to have worked out that way for some reason..."

The discussion seemed to focus first on the reasoning behind the female characters. The creative director spoke on this topic,

"We wanted to draw from real life. It's really where our inspiration lies. So, we had this idea, which is something that Cecilia had sort of touched on quite a few years ago, and that was to draw upon her, and Felice's, own family history in creating these heroines,"

This seemed to perk up Ciel's interest, as he began to focus more on what was being said than on watching Felice.

"That was the real challenge," Felice spoke up, "because as a lot of you know my sister was an _extremely_ hard worker. Even on top of all of the projects that she had going on, she wanted this to really be an ode to the- truly to the original company founders,

"She actually contacted a number of historians... and I remember I was present during one of her phone calls and, she was just such a go-getter, like, _nobody_ could say no to her," the other four present smiled affectionately, "and she went 'Okay, _how much_ do you want to make this next year? Give me a ballpark figure, and I'll make it happen, and all you have to do is _one_ project,' of course she didn't say immediately how big the project would be until she got their answer. It was her way of getting things done..."

Sebastian leaned in to Ciel's ear and whispered, "Sounds like the Phantomhive truly remained in the bloodline, despite my young master's absence."

Ciel glared sideways at him.

"And that's where Jed comes in."

The illustrator/historian spoke next,

"Yea, she uh-" Jed spoke like he was on drugs.

He went on to speak about how Cecilia had first contacted him, how surprised she was when she first met him in person, how she had doubted him because of his appearance, and how he'd proven himself worthy of hiring by providing some extremely rare information, which he would not disclose in this panel.

"Not an easy lady to please at all," Jed said of the late Cecilia.

"My sister definitely ran a tight ship. I'm starting to think I'm way too lenient on you guys," Felice joked, the others chuckled.

"So, this is part of what Jed found, which will be available in the next revision of the Funtom Company biography. You guys get a sneak peek..."

The man who had introduced the panel fumbled a little with a projector, earning him teasing from the panel, before he got it to finally work.

Then what Ciel was least expecting happened.

An image of Lizzy was projected onto the wall behind the podium.

"This is our great-great-great," Felice started to laugh, "I don't know how separated she is..." Felice turned to Jed.

"Just a couple generations back. Just great-great-grandma."

Felice seemed to chuckle at herself, "Okay, my great-great-grandma," she turned to the audience, "see, that's why Ceci hired him," the audience laughed and Jed stood up to bow to them.

_Fool_, Ciel thought.

Felice continued speaking to the photograph projected onto the giant screen.

"Obviously, before she ever thought of having kids," she smiled. She briefly introduced Lady Elizabeth by names and title, and briefly reviewed the family tree with the help of Jed.

The image was of a thirteen-year-old Lizzy. A year before Ciel's 'death.' The photo was black and white, but Ciel remembered that day quite well. In his mind's eye he could see the color in that photo as clear as that day.

Lizzy had been wearing a pink frilly dress under a pink coat, as usual, trying extremely hard to look "cute" for him. _You didn't ever have to _try_, Elizabeth_.

That's what he would have said. Or not. Most likely not. He never spoke his mind. She understood him just the same. Or did she? He would never know.

Lizzy was smiling at the camera. His camera. He chuckled to himself remembering. Sebastian had taken that photo, on Lizzy's request, so that Ciel would have something to look at when she was gone, _"You can frame it and place it on your desk, that way I will always be with you, even when you're doing your work!"_ she had exclaimed happily.

And what had he done?

_He'd groaned in annoyance._

He'd fucking groaned and rolled his eyes at her.

Jed went on to speak about the photo, what type of camera was probably used to take it. Surprisingly, he did not comment on how he came about it. That was definitely something Ciel wanted to know. _On second thought, it doesn't matter._

"Next," the image on the projector changed to one of a grown-up Lizzy, sitting alone in a garden Ciel did not recognize. He assumed it was one of the gardens at her husband's mansion. Her blonde hair was up in a half bun, with the strand of hair that refused to stay up hanging down the side of her face, and a few others underneath, adorning her neck. She wore a strand of pearls on her hair and neck and a dress fit for a Lady of her standing. She must have been around 19 when the photo was taken. She was a year older than him. That must have been a year into her marriage, as her husband had been either her age or a bit older, he could not remember.

She would have been Ciel's wife that year. Her smile and the light in her eyes were absent. Maybe if he'd not been turned into _this_ he could have made sure that smile and those eyes remained the same.

Felice spoke to the photo rapidly, wanting to get through the rest of the slides.

They went on to show other photographs of the later Funtom Corp presidents and "...the women behind the men...", Felice's great-grandfather and great-grandmother, grandfather and grandmother, father and mother, and finally Cecilia.

They then showed slides of the original artwork, presented by the other two men from the graphics department, and how they were drawn to resemble the women in the photos they had just shown.

Some of the women only had minimal roles in the game. Not Lizzy.

"This drawing is based on my great-great-grandmother Elizabeth," Felice introduced the artwork, "These have not been released yet, so you are the first to see 'em!"

"This is Lady Paladino, Defender of the Light," the crowd wowed. The drawing was of a tall, blonde woman with green eyes, obviously based on Lizzy's looks. She had Lizzy's body type except more athletic and toned, and obviously showing more skin. Her golden hair flowing in waves down to the middle of her back. She was underwater. She held a broadsword in each hand that was curved at the tips just a bit. Her expression was fierce, and she looked like she was protecting something behind her. It was the silhouette of a small, frail man, but the looks could not be made out.

"One of our new main NPC's. We won't say much about her background..." the crowd groaned, Felice smirked, "but we will show you a short never-before seen trailer," the crowd cheered as the room became dark and the trailer started.

A dark scene, destroyed land, burned by hellfire, fallen victim to Emperor Daemonico's revenge. Zoom in on a pair of white fur and leather boots of a person kneeling down, her hand taking a bit of the burnt soil between her fingers, letting it slide through the cracks. She is wearing a light gray cape over a long, white flowy dress that appears to reach her ankles. The image moves up her body as she stands up to reveal the face of Lady Paladino, expression of sadness, followed by intense anger.

The trailer went on to show action scenes of Lady Paladino slaying a group of four of Emperor Daemonico's minions, then images of fighting a giant two-headed guard dog, with the purpose of breaking into the Emperor's dwelling. She shouts, _"By my sword I promised to protect him, and I will not leave without him, Demon!_"

"My, my..." Sebastian smirked.

More action scenes, followed by a final scene of her standing before a cloud of darkness and red eyes. The thing smiles to reveal fangs.

Ciel stared at the screen in contempt.

_"I will not stop. There is no rest,"_ she says. Then the trailer ends.

A standing ovation came from the crowd, with the exception of Ciel and Sebastian. As a sign of solidarity, Natalia sat still as well, confused.

The panel thanked the audience, regretted there was no time for Q&A, and began to leave.

Felice waved at the crowd and followed her crew backstage. Ciel watched her carefully, everything right down to the way her hair bounced as she walked reminded him of _her. _And yet he knew _she_ was dead.

_What is happening to me?_

After it was all over, Ciel sat staring at the stage.

"Young Master," Sebastian leaned in to whisper, covering with his hand, bringing Ciel back from whatever mental trip he had been putting himself through for the past half hour, the longest half hour of the entire day so far.

"It's just like her," Ciel said, barely audible so only Sebastian could hear.

Ciel closed his mouth and cleared his throat. His Lizzy. No, _Felice_. Felice Brightmore. Not _his_.

"It's not-"

"I know." Ciel interrupted Sebastian.

"I must agree, the resemblance is..."

"I know."

Natalia, who sat on the other side of Ciel, did not know what was going on, but knew better than to ask on the spot.

Sebastian felt... sad? For his young master. Yes, he felt emotions, strong ones. Demons do feel. _Always_ have.

He could see what his master was feeling at the moment...

Shock.

Loneliness.

Sadness.

_Love._

Love for the girl he lost, who grew into the woman who continued what she thought was his dream. Even though she had belonged to another, she was _his_. Always _his_. On her deathbed she had gone peacefully, thinking she might see her Ciel again in heaven.

She was wrong.

And now her great-great granddaughter stood before them, in a room full of followers, fanboys and fangirls alike, talking about the creation of the female characters who starred in the most successful game of the company that had once been his, a game in which at least one character strongly resembled the story of the former company owner himself.

Ciel reflected, wondering what made him feel what he was feeling. He had seen photos of Felice of course, on the web, on magazines, on newspaper articles. He had noticed _some_ resemblance, the shape of her face, a hint of _her_ smile. But never could he have imagined just how much she looked almost exactly like his Lizzy in person. Or how much that would affect him.

The shape of her lips, the dimples on her cheeks when she smiled, the curve of her nose, the shape and _exact_ _shade_ of green of her eyes, even that odd freckle at her hairline above her left ear, were all Lizzy's. Her hair was red, from her mother's side, he presumed.

Every generation of Brightmores had bred men.

Felice, and her sister Cecilia, were the first women born into the Brightmore family since Lizzy.

Sebastian turned his head to glance toward the back of the room and noticed Mey Rin was gone. Ciel had not even noticed or felt the presence of a reaper. _Hm._ He would have to do something about that.

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><p>That night back in the suite, Ciel sat at his computer station logged in to his game, but was not playing. Natalia had a long, hot shower. Sebastian sat on a small couch in her bedroom, waiting...<p>

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><p>Thanks for reading.<p>

_**Next Chapter (Hopefully there will be a next one soon, but I don't know whether to include the rest of FunCon since it has been so long!): **_

**::FunCon -Day 2!::**

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><p><strong><em>Ciel's Itinerary: <em>**

**8:00am-10:30am: Meet the Prez: Q&A with Felice Brightmore, followed by meet and greet**

**12:00pm-2:00pm: In-Game 3D Experience! (_daily_)**

**3:45pm-5:30pm: The Wrath of Emperor Daemonico: Exclusive Interview with the creators of the upcoming Expansion to Phantom Empire, followed by Sneak Peak into the game!**

**7:00pm-9:00pm: Phantom Empire Gaming Tournament, Round 2**

**9:00pm-midnight: Cosplay Contest and After-Party**


	33. Terms of Agreement

***I do not own Kuroshitsuji or its characters. They belong to Toboso Yana.***

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><p>Natalia stepped out of the hot bath feeling a lot more relaxed and put the robe on, walking toward the mirror. She grasped the edge of the right sleeve of her robe and wiped the mirror in a circular fashion, just enough to see herself. She stared at her own reflection for what felt like an eternity.<p>

No, it wouldn't be an eternity, would it. Eternity sounded like... well, like how long Ciel and Sebastian had lived. She just didn't know what she saw in her reflection anymore. Or what she was looking for.

She opened the door that lead to her bedroom and the first thing she noticed was the lights were off, except for the lamp on the left of her nightstand, which was very dim. A firm hand on her shoulder startled her, making her gasp a little.

"Sebastian," she muttered. He walked around her so as to face her, the woman avoiding eye contact.

"You look better this way, without the mask on."

He meant of course the makeup. He never quite understood humans' obsession with looking what they considered to be 'better' by using that, but he had come to the conclusion that it was a mask they wore, just like his human face.

"I like looking at a person's face when I talk to them. It's more natural, wouldn't you agree?"

She shied away. "W-what's going on?" she tried to sound casual, walking toward her bed and turning the light on brighter. She could feel his eyes on her, and he could sense she was still tense. He approached again regardless, setting a hand on her shoulder and brushing a strand of wet hair back behind her ear, making her shudder a bit. "I think you know what I want."

Natalia's eyebrows met in confusion, still avoiding eye contact with the butler. Her heart began to beat faster.

"I want to speak to you about your soul."

She let out a sigh of relief.

Sebastian chuckled, "I wonder, what _did_ you think I wanted, Dr. Lucas?" he teased.

Natalia blushed out of anger, and embarrassment, deciding to deflect. "You can have it."

Sebastian raised an eyebrow. It was along the lines of what he had been expecting. "I'm afraid it's not that simple."

"Then simplify it. Just... Just take it. I don't want it."

He sighed out of annoyance. She was being a bit more difficult than he liked her to be. His hold closed around her wrist and he forced her to turn around, obviously surprising her. His lips crashed into hers, hands wrapped around her waist holding her up against his own body, and he gave her a taste of what she would feel; he began to suck the soul out of her.

At first she struggled a bit, then realizing what he was doing and that she could not move. She felt a pain rip from her feet up to her chest and it felt like her head was going to explode. He just wanted to give her a taste, and he stopped himself before actually causing any harm to her soul. Any further harm, that is.

When he released her she fell into the bed, gasping for air, one hand grabbing at her chest and the other at her head, shutting her eyes tightly trying to keep the room from spinning.

"It is simply not that easy my dear Natalia." He was sitting in the chair next to her bed now. She had not even noticed when that happened. Her heart was still racing, and she felt as though she was getting a panic attack.

She took deep breaths and releasing them slowly, planting both feet on the ground, sitting on the bed and trying to regain her internal balance.

She almost hated him for it, then she remembered that she had actually wanted him to do what he just did. Only completely. She couldn't stay angry with him. The person she felt anger toward was herself.

"I needed you to realize how much this is going to cost you. I did not actually take a piece of you this time- the piece I took before was... more than satisfactory for the time being," he smirked. "However, you need to stop wanting me to devour your soul simply out of _spite. _Anyone can do anything out of spite, especially lovers," the last word sliding out of his mouth like venom.

"Are you implying that I'm using you to get back at Ronald?"

"Aren't you?"

"No."

"Then what do you want?"

"What?"

"What do you want, in exchange for your soul?"

Natalia finally looked him in the eyes, confused.

"Allow me to clarify, your soul is very precious to me. I want it. At the moment there is no other soul that would satiate my hunger. I want to rip you to shreds and make you mine. And it will hurt. But I am a fair demon. In return, I will help you with something. What is your goal, what would make you feel complete? What, in essence, can I help you achieve, in order to complement a soul of your calibre? Sex? Money? Recognition in your career? No, that is not you, though those things I would give to you without you having to ask," he didn't miss the blush, "What is the thing that you most wish for in the entire world?" He smirked again.

There was only one thing on Natalia's mind, and Sebastian knew well what that was. He knew she needed a little coaxing.

The demon stood from his chair and in the blink of an eye was sat behind her on the bed, his hands smoothing down her hair.

"I need you to relax and think about what you want," whispers in her ear made the hairs at the back of her neck stand, she stood up quickly and walked over to the window, looking out of the balcony. She could easily jump right there, and he may or may not get to her in time. No sooner had the thought crossed her mind than he was behind her, one arm around her waist pulling her back inside slowly, his other hand closing the sliding door.

He chuckled, "You're not getting away that easily."

A soft instrumental played in the background, and he turned her around to face him, the right arm around her waist still holding her firmly, his left hand traveling down her right arm to take her hand. "Do you dance often?"

"Not with the devil, no."

He chuckled, spinning her around and dipping her, "_The_ devil? You give me too much credit."

When he brought her back up she backed away from him, surprisingly he let it happen.

"Stop. Stop this, please,"

"As you wish." The music stopped and Sebastian waited. Natalia stood in front of him, mentally preparing whatever she was going to say.

"Tell me more about... how this works." She remembered all that he had said before, when Ciel and Sebastian both talked to her about it, but it seemed like that was so long ago now, even though it was only days.

"Ah, I see I've piqued your interest. Please, sit," he pointed at the chair he had just been sitting in. She obeyed, he stood behind her.

"Would you remove your robe if I asked you to?"

"Excuse me?"

"I said, would you remove your robe if I asked you to?"

"No!"

"Then why do you do as others say without thinking of what it is that _you_ want?" She was no Ciel, that was for sure. He'd had a wonderful time with Ciel, as young as he was then he was mature enough that he knew exactly what he wanted. Natalia was much older than Ciel had been, yet she had so much growing up to do. Sebastian was sure he could cultivate her soul just the same, but he needed her to grow up.

"I don't-"

"I asked you sit, you sat. I asked you to come to New York with me, and you did. My Master asked you to wear less than appropriate garments, which you said you felt uncomfortable doing but you did. Without a moment's hesitation. You did as you were told. I find it hard to believe that, if I asked nicely, you wouldn't open your... robe, with the same hesitation you showed then-" *slap*

Natalia had shown Sebastian the reaction he wanted. Anger. She stood in front of him, her hand stinging from the slap she had just deposited on his left cheek. He didn't move, but smiled.

"That's a good start."

She took a couple of steps backward.

"Please tell me, why did you feel the need to slap me just now," rhetorical question.

"B- You questioned my decision-making, my ability to make my own decisions. You talked to me as though I were a child!" she raised her voice slightly, but she thought she saw what he was doing. He wanted to just get her angry, right?

Wrong.

"Turning over your soul is the hardest decision you will ever make. And I doubt you even know what you want out of life enough to know what you want to ask of me in exchange for it just yet."

He approached her and his next words were almost a hiss, a whisper, a mixture of honey and venom, "_If you are going to give yourself to me, be sure that that is what _you_ want._"

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><p>There it is, the next chapter. I'm TERRIBLY SORRY it took me so long! My muse is kinda back, or was back, for a little while. I just hope I have not jinxed myself! I know it's very short, I wanted to do an update though, even of this length. ^_^ Thank you for reading!<p> 


	34. Legacy

***I do not own Kuroshitsuji or its characters. They belong to Toboso Yana.***

**Kay just pretend that the first time Natalia saw Ciel his eyes, or eye, was blue, and not reddish brown like I wrote in that one chapter. In addition she's never seen his true demon eyes. I know it's bad for writers to do this, but... pretty please? Just pretend? Okay :D. **

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><p>The nightmares Natalia had that night were almost unbearable. Once again, she found herself in that living room, hearing voices, Ronald talking to her, but it wasn't him. It didn't look like him, she didn't know who he was but he was threatening to kill her and then Ronald. She grabbed the kitchen knife to fight him off, and because he wouldn't back off, she plunged it into him. Only once she looked up she saw it wasn't a stranger bleeding to death, and it wasn't Ronald either. It was Sebastian.<p>

"_Sebastian!_" she woke up with a gasp, panting, sweat making her hair stick to her forehead, a thin film of it covering her head, neck and down the front of her night shirt. The room was dark, the only lights that came in were from outside, from the half shut curtains of the balcony door. She brought her hand up to her forehead to wipe the sweat off and the hair away.

"Looks like someone had a bad dream," his voice came from the direction of the chair, in the dark. She could barely make out the demon's outline.

She stood up to pour herself a glass of water from the vanity across the bed, next to where the chair was. Her eyes were getting accustomed to the darkness.

"How long have you been sitting there?"

"You kept calling Sebastian's name. He's out, fetching me a late night snack."

She could _hear_ the smirk on Ciel's face, and exhaled sharply.

"Are you relieved he isn't here?"

"It's not that."

"Then what is it?"

"I don't know," she stretched her neck.

Why did Ciel look different?

"Why-"

"You've never seen me as I am."

Now she was slightly confused.

"You continue to see me as a child. I can't blame you too much. Humans' judgments are based on looks," he turned his head and looked out the window, as Natalia finished her glass of water and remained standing by the vanity, observing him as he sat so calmly, so stoic. Almost frightening.

"What if I showed you my true form? Sebastian has been working so hard on pushing me to achieve it. Because I'm not a true demon, it's not quite as shocking as his. Have you seen him? The _real_ Sebastian?"

His eyes flashed red at his last statement. He was toying with her. He meant to frighten her, and it was working.

She served herself another glass of water and took a large gulp. "No."

"Would you like to? I could order him to show you. He does as he's told. In fact if I ordered him to let you go, he would have to. If I ordered him to let you jump the next time you think about ending your life, he'd have to."

"There won't be a next time, Ciel," she had meant to sound firm about it, but her voice was naturally soft and she was disappointed in herself for it. She set the glass down and returned to the bed, sitting at the edge.

He looked out the window, at the people walking the busy city streets. "Look at them. They're all so small."

It was starting to get colder in the room. Natalia covered herself with the blanket to try to stay warm.

She didn't quite know what to say when it came to Ciel. He was absolutely right, she did see him as a child. She let her eyes deceive her. But he had been acting like a child around her, for the most part, asking her to play games with her, speaking in a different, childlike tone of voice. She wondered if what Sebastian had said long ago was true, that his mother had died when he was very young.

She swallowed hard before asking one of the many questions that had been eating at her.

"How did you come about meeting Sebastian?" Her words almost echoed in the room. He didn't respond immediately. In fact, he didn't respond at all.

"People like you sicken me, did you know that?"

This response shocked her. "I-I'm sorry?"

"You have it all. Everything at your fingertips that you need to live healthy, fulfilled lives. So what if you lost a loved one? Death and pain are natural parts of human life. You walk through life feeling as though the world owes you something. As though you've been wronged somehow. At the first difficulty you encounter you walk away instead of fighting. You don't know how easy you have it, how normal you can have it. You've never truly experienced pain or suffering, or trauma, or even loss. You don't know what any of that is, and yet here you are, your soul reeking of it. Of pain you never truly suffered. Your world is so small because you are so focused on yourself. I don't understand you."

Ciel remained by the window, while Natalia remained frozen at his words.

At first she didn't know how to react, whether she should be offended, defensive, or angry with him. She felt hurt. She was finding it harder to breathe and she didn't know if it was that she was angry with him or that somehow what he said resonated with something deep inside her, that somehow, he was completely right. She was weak.

She was about to open her mouth to say something, anything, when Ciel turned away from the window to face her, and took a few steps toward her. His eyes were blue once again, that calm ocean blue that she had grown accustomed to.

"I don't mean to be rude of course. You can take that as you please. And although I would like for my butler to eat something so he doesn't starve... you must know the ramifications of what you are about to do. When I say you sicken me I speak the truth, but I suppose I should be a tad more precise. It's not that I dislike you, in fact I feel quite indifferent to your company, which you can take as a compliment on my part. I suppose it would help if you had a bit of a stronger personality. Those with stronger personalities earn more respect, even from beings like us."

Was that it? Was this him helping her?

This is what Sebastian had said. It's what he wanted. He wanted her to be stronger. To be more like him. But why?

"If my soul is so delicious, why doesn't he just go for it?"

"_I_ don't think you smell delicious. Then again we all have different tastes. I myself go for the more... _unique_ souls," there was that smirk again. "It's like with people. Some prefer sweet, some prefer tart, etcetera. Some starve themselves waiting for that special meal. It's like the expression when a young maiden is 'saving herself,' or rather hunting out someone worthy of seducing," he shrugged.

"Being hungry makes the meal taste so much better, and Sebastian has been hungry for a long, long time."

She gulped. "What about you?"

"Do I starve myself, you mean?"

She nodded.

"No. Denying myself the small pleasures in life is not my thing." He stood up and gazed out the balcony one more time, taking a step toward it before he turned to look at her.

"I will let you return to sleep now. We have a long day ahead, I'd hate to have to stop and take a rest every five minutes because you didn't get enough sleep. Goodnight Natalia."

"Good night," she called out, her eyes following him out the door. She noted he hadn't apologized for invading her privacy. From within her bedroom she heard the sound of Ciel's phone going off, him picking it up and then the front door of the suite opening and closing. He was probably going to meet Sebastian somewhere, not wanting to bring his 'midnight snack' to the suite.

She lay back down and closed her eyes but it took her a good hour or so to fall back asleep again.

* * *

><p>Natalia opened her eyes slowly to find a table next to her bed, atop of which sat a tray containing various breakfast items. Eggs, bacon, blueberry muffins, pancakes, and toast. There was also a pot of coffee ready to serve. She found that she was very hungry. She got up and went to the bathroom first, washing her face, brushing her teeth and hair, and putting a little make up on to look a bit more alive.<p>

Funny she was trying to look alive when that was the last thing she wanted to be.

She stepped out to find that luckily she was alone. She put her bathrobe on and ate until she was appropriately full, not forgetting the cup of coffee of course.

She was about to reach for her bag when she remembered almost every item in it was a costume or costume accessory. She also remembered that Ciel had said he had something special for Sebastian for that day.

The thought made her smile, something she felt she had not done in a long time. She couldn't wait to see what shenanigans Ciel was going to put Sebastian up to today.

She went outside with her cup of coffee and as soon as she stepped out she dropped it, her mouth agape.

Sebastian caught the cup before it fell to the ground, before it splashed even a bit of coffee anywhere.

She was looking at a very different Ciel.

The upper part of his body was exposed, revealing a set of beautiful black wings the span of which didn't appear to be very large at first glance. His back was scaly, like that of a serpent. His eyes were glowing red when he glanced over at her.

"Don't worry, it's just my cosplay," he explained calmly. She exhaled sharply, and found that she could breathe again.

He smirked, chuckled. Sebastian did the same.

"Sebastian help Natalia get into the outfit I specified before. This is an order."

Sebastian's jaw tensed and he sighed, "Yes my lord," before he turned to Natalia, "Come. We've a lot of work to do."

* * *

><p>"When you said 'We've a lot of work to do,' I'm assuming you didn't mean the getting dressed part?" she raised her eyebrows, pointing to the outfit she wore. It was the Empress outfit that Sebastian and herself had expressed marked distaste over, and which didn't require much clothing or time to put on seeing as it was only a few pieces of cloth covering intimate body areas.<p>

"Unfortunately you don't have a choice, and neither do I," he leaned in grabbing her shoulders and pushing her down to sit on the chair where just hours before Ciel had been sitting in. "I must do as he asks," he explained. He walked around the chair and quickly her hair was in the same style as some of the girls she'd seen the day before, only more conservative. Rather than being up, it was down, styled by two braids that formed a crown around her head. It was very 'nature-like'. There were gold beads adorning the braids, making it look like a real crown, much like some of the original artwork they had seen the day before. Of course the real Empress exuded a lot more confidence in herself than Natalia ever could.

"He's doing this to punish me, not you." Sebastian's words caught her attention.

"It's not that I have an issue with people looking at you. They will look or not look no matter what you wear. It's not the clothing itself that unsettles me, it's your scent. You smell stronger the less clothing you wear and the closer I am to you."

"Like an oven-baked turkey, when you take it out of the oven you can smell it?"

He chuckled, "Precisely."

She chuckled as well. It was an odd conversation. She'd never referred to herself as a piece of meal before.

It struck her then. If she wanted to die by his hand, this is probably what she had to do. Acquiesce to flaunting herself in front of him. That or maybe he'd get sick of the scent and just kill her without taking her soul. And that wouldn't be fair.

"So if I present myself nude to you, you'd be less able to resist my soul?" she raised a brow.

He didn't look happy, rather he looked disapprovingly down at her. It lasted mere seconds before he gave her a smile.

"Now you're learning," he chuckled darkly. "I wouldn't eat you if that's what you're thinking, no matter how many times you do it. Well, maybe not in the way you desire, until our agreement is fulfilled, whenever we _make_ one," he trailed his fingers across her exposed back from one shoulder to the other, making her gasp and lean forward away from his touch.

"That's what I wished to discuss with you. Have you decided on what it is that you want?"

Her words got caught in her throat. She had decided. In fact she'd been thinking about it all night.

She was so angry with Ronald for what he had done. She had loved him with all of her heart, and he had betrayed her in the worst possible way. Hell, he could have cheated on her and still that would have been better than this. Turning her into a shell of a woman, worth nothing to anyone and barely able to trust herself to make her own decisions anymore. Not knowing what's real and what's delusion. There was no hope for her. But to get her revenge.

"Yes," she answered.

"And?"

"I want-"

Ciel's voice interrupted/rescued her.

"Sebastian, if you're done playing with your food, you need to get ready. And hurry. I want to be down there in seven minutes."

"We'll continue this when we return," he said kindly.

Sebastian walked away thinking of how predictable she really was.

* * *

><p>The humiliation of Sebastian's cosplay never occurred. When Ciel called her out of 'hiding' in her bedroom Natalia stepped out in her skimpy outfit to find Sebastian in one not so humiliating cosplay.<p>

In fact it barely looked like a cosplay at all.

Ciel had simply ordered the elder to show his fangs and his glowing red eyes. And his coat seemed to be made of some soft silken material that flowed so gently it almost looked like shadows surrounding him. If she didn't know any better she'd think that was part of who he really was.

But maybe she _didn't_ know any better. Maybe she'd rather not know.

"He's supposed to be one of the Emperor's Knights of Shadow," Ciel said with a smirk admiring his 'handiwork' with Sebastian, or rather just his orders to look like that which the butler had to follow.

"He sure looks like a Knight of Shadow to me..." Natalia approached him in awe. The cape moved so freely and there wasn't even an open window in the suite. Yes, she didn't want to know.

"Oh that's right, I forgot you played too at one point," Ciel smirked. The unknown history, or unknown to Natalia who had not played the game in a while and therefore had not been following the events as they unfolded, was that in the game, this was the knight with whom the Empress had been rumored to have an affair with. Her favored Knight whom she sent on quests and then rewarded handsomely in ways that were never seen in the game. There was in fact already much fanart and fanfiction out there written about it.

"He even has the sword and gauntlets," Ciel pointed out, though Natalia kept looking at Sebastian's face, at his eyes and fangs. Half of it was covered in the shadow of the hood of the flowing cape. Was that part of who he was? It was both appealing and frightening.

* * *

><p>The first half of the day at the convention went smoothly. Ciel got to do everything on his list for the morning except the Q&amp;A, while Natalia got to pretend that he was just a child cosplaying as a little demon, along with her Knight of Shadow.<p>

Many photos were taken of the two together, Sebastian had to hide his face under his hood and was thankful it hid most of it, in order to protect his privacy. No doubt the Young Master had ordered him to don this particular attire along with the good Dr. Lucas in order to pose a further challenge for him. This was evident by the fact that for each photograph requested of the two, the Young Master would smirk and look at Sebastian as he hid his face with his cape, with his sword, or even by hiding it in the 'Empress's hair.

It posed a threat to Natalia as well, who could not be seen in public donning such attire with the person who was technically still her therapist. It was grossly unethical. She had no way of hiding herself, except for all the makeup she wore and the fact that sometimes in the poses Sebastian hid her face with his hand in a very... sensual manner. He said it was some of the fan art the Master had shown him. She had to keep telling herself that it didn't matter, as she was not returning to being a psychologist anytime soon, if ever. Or so she thought.

At some point in the evening there was going to be a cosplay contest. 9:00pm according to their itineraries. That explained Ciel wearing his better outfit today, or so Natalia thought.

She had no idea of any ulterior motives or hidden agendas.

Somehow Ciel had discovered that the cosplay contest was going to be judged by a small panel of three, including Felice Brightmore herself.

Natalia thought Ciel looked like a small fallen angel, his outfit looked so real. And Sebastian well... she had other feelings about him.

Everyone seemed to have beautiful outfits, many of them much more beautiful than even Sebastian's or Ciel's.

The judges sat at their table, amazed at everybody who marched by, or gave a performance, and made comments among themselves.

"You and Sebastian are not going up," Ciel ordered, to Natalia's great relief. Sebastian showed no relief, or rather had a curious expression. Natalia looked upon him questioning and just to humor her he explained. "I smell reaper nearby. Don't worry, it isn't _your_ reaper."

At the words _'your reaper_' she froze, the reference itself breaking her heart. Sebastian looked around but he couldn't see the _other_ reaper whose scent he had memorized from Natalia's apartment.

Ciel did participate. He was the last one to go up, and of course the judges were wowed. He looked pointedly at them all, with a gaze not unlike his natural one, with a somber expression, walking stoically... and then his wings opened and suddenly things became dramatic.

Just when Ciel turned around and his wings opened up, the crowd wowed and 'ooh'd and 'aah'd, the loud sound of a gunshot reverberated in the large closed hall, eliciting screams from everyone.

Natalia felt Sebastian's weight as he pushed her down to the ground and kneeled himself, to continue to fit in and not call attention to himself. The only ones who didn't do so were the Young Master who had nothing to fear, and the reddish haired woman who stood in a protective stance next to a fallen Felice.

She spoke through her headset. "Yes I have her, she's safe," she set two fingers on Felice's neck, and now Sebastian could see that although she was on the ground face down, she was indeed alive and unharmed. Only someone with demonic eyesight - or Mey Rin's- could see what the bullet's trajectory would have been. Right through Felice's heart.

Two more gunshots followed, this time they came from the shiny twin pistols in Mey Rin's hands as she aimed perfectly at a particular spot about sixty degree angle from where she sat.

"Send in the cleanup crew and backup," she ordered again through her headset, just before a body fell from the area where she had shot, some ceiling beams hidden from sight for a regular person, but which presented the perfect shot for someone who wanted to do what that individual had just tried to do. Shoot Felice Brightmore through the heart.

"Are you alright Miss Brightmore?" Mey Rin's soft voice was now directed at the shaking woman on the floor with tears falling from her eyes. Felice glanced at Mey Rin and nodded slowly, lifting her head off the ground a little. "Please, stay down for now. It is safer that way."

Felice did as she was told.

The room, which was filled with screaming individuals who had ducked, immediately filled with a large group of people wearing "Security" uniforms, but who looked a lot more _professional_ than regular security.

Mey Rin looked over at Ciel, who made eye contact with her and froze for a few seconds, surprised. She smiled warmly at him and nodded. He still appeared a bit shocked to see her, but returned the nod, after which she motioned with her eyes and head that he should do as the other people were doing and get down on the ground, and he understood, smirking at her as he did so. She gave him a smile to show that she was pleased.

"Hmm... if he only behaved that way with me," Sebastian mused.

Mey Rin glanced at Sebastian, who bowed a little at the woman in an expression understood to mean he was impressed with her work. She smirked and released from her right hand the bullet that had been aimed at Felice Brightmore. She had intercepted it with her hand. Now, the bullet fell to the wooden floor, tinkling as it did so.

A group of security guards came to collect Felice and the other judges.

It was then Sebastian noticed what he had seemingly failed to notice before. Felice gave Mey Rin a look of wild panic as she was taken away. Mey Rin turned to her and said in a reassuring voice, "I'll be with you in a few minutes My Lady."

_My lady? _Sebastian and Ciel exchanged a look.

_Well damn..._

He was initially shocked at hearing what he heard. And then Natalia's voice brought him back from his thoughts.

"Yes it's alright to get up now," he responded, taking Natalia by the elbow and walking up to the stage to where the Young Master remained in the position that Mey Rin asked him to get in. All Natalia noticed was a look exchanged between Sebastian and the woman, and she knew immediately they knew each other from before.

Was she a demon as well?

"It's not what you're probably thinking," Mey Rin answered the unspoken question, looking at Sebastian, then held out a hand for Ciel to grab. He looked at her hand and gave her a look raising his eyebrow. "With all due respect, the human thing to do would be to accept the hand that's being held out to you, _Sir,_" she whispered, smirking at her decision to add the 'Sir' at the end, for old times' sake. Ciel cautiously took her hand and stood up.

She now addressed both demons. Natalia observed her body language. She was a confident woman, and apparently very able. She was obviously more than the head of security at a convention center.

Natalia looked at the scene around them. People were being evacuated slowly, a 'cleanup crew' was collecting evidence and the single body was covered up, ready to be taken away. Mey Rin glanced over to ensure that the young reaper who'd been assigned to collect that man's soul was doing his job, and he had. She gave him a slight nod seemingly dismissing him.

"It is my lot in life to serve the Phantomhives," she shrugged.

"Mey Rin..." Ciel started.

"What can I say? I've always been the best at what I do, so the job offers just kept coming," she said, looking directly at him.

Ciel chuckled and shook his head.

"You're a reaper now."

"I am. I am also assigned to protect Felice Brightmore. It is a special assignment. I've been with her since her sister's death. It seems, Young Lord, that the conspiracy to end the Phantomhive _legacy_ did not end with you leaving." Her tone was sad, almost distressed.

"Do you mean..."

"Felice's sister was assassinated, by the same individuals who tried to get you all those decades ago."

"Do you mean Felice knows?"

"Oh yes," Mey Rin nodded. "She knows everything. Everything about people like me... and people like you," she answered.

Natalia's eyes widened. _Phantomhive? _Ciel was a_ Phantomhive? _

She felt incredibly stupid at the realization and felt like she was going to faint. Sebastian's arm around her waist held her up. "Are you alright?"

"Yes, thank you," she said, glancing from him to the woman. She did not introduce herself, but somehow this woman knew who she was.

"You must be Dr. Natalia Lucas. Very pleased to finally meet you," she extended her hand, a gesture which Natalia mirrored, and gave it a firm shake, intimidating the already shaken . Mey Rin would have continued talking with Natalia, in fact it looked like she wanted to have a conversation with her, but Ciel interrupted with his own interrogation.

"How much exactly does she know about the past?"

"Didn't you pay attention at the panel yesterday?" Mey Rin raised an eyebrow, smiling. Then she giggled, "I'm teasing of course. She knows everything about you. Not just your company, but your... _extracurricular activities_. Like your company, _they_ were handed down through the generations as well, as they were in those days. And about the contract between you two. That is information only privy to her, of course, and her sister before her. Passed along, like a true legacy, or family curse depending on how you look at it. She knows everything, except that you are still alive, or why you disappeared. I believe her sister was under the impression that you were dead, and since the information was handed down to her upon Cece's death..." she didn't have to finish for Ciel to get where she was getting at.

Then the question he really wanted to ask.

"Who _is_ after her, Mey Rin?" his voice full with concern, even Sebastian was surprised.

Mey Rin's expression darkened. "That, my Young Lord, is the one thing we _don't_ know."

* * *

><p>There it is, the next chapter. I'm TERRIBLY SORRY it took me so long! My muse is kinda back, or was back, for a little while. I just hope I have not jinxed myself! ^_^ Thank you for reading!<p> 


	35. Interpretation of Dreams

***I do not own Kuroshitsuji or its characters. They belong to Toboso Yana.* Warning for some smuttiness toward the end there. Be warned!**

* * *

><p>"She looks so much like-"<p>

"I know. She had good genes, Lady Elizabeth. Felice is lucky to have inherited them. And she'll be even luckier if she has the opportunity to pass them along. That's why I'm here, to ensure she lives a good long and healthy life, and that she dies when she is supposed to. And that is not scheduled to happen for a long, long time."

Ciel took a sip of the soda Mey Rin had summoned for him (in the form of ordering her reaper-in-training to bring it). "Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought a person's soul was protected no matter what. It is reapers who pass the final judgment on whether they die or not, isn't it?"

"Miss Mey Rin can I bring you anything else?" the young reaper in training assigned to shadow Mey Rin leaned in and asked in as low a voice as possible. He was obviously very very green, and very very afraid of being in the company of demons. It appeared that he thought Mey Rin some sort of goddess for doing so without a shadow of fear, as he blushed each time she glanced at him. Then again Mey Rin seemed to own a sort of confidence that Ciel had not known her to possess in her human life. Sebastian himself had only seen it when she wielded a weapon. Now she was very much in charge of it.

"No Sam that will be all. Thank you," she dismissed him before returning to her conversation with Ciel. "We are scheduled to be present to reap souls at certain times. However, a number of things can happen in the time lapse between the moment when a person is mortally wounded, for example, via bullet wound, and the time when the soul is safe and sound in our hand.

"Aside from the obvious threats," she glanced at him and Sebastian and smirked, "the human body can only withstand so much. We are no longer authorized to heal. If a body has been wounded to the point where, even if we were to judge the person is not to die, the soul cannot return to the body, then our efforts are in vain. Like here, for instance. We had this mystery man ready and set to shoot Felice right through her heart. Had I been even a second late and he succeeded, even if I deemed her worthy of living, her body just would not withstand. She would have died, reaper judgment notwithstanding."

Mey Rin sighed midway her explanation. "It is difficult to explain, as it is difficult to understand I'm sure. You might be thinking then what good are reapers if anybody at any given point can kill another? That's what I thought for a long time. Still think that at times. But we serve a purpose. Sometimes we serve multiple purposes, and they do not only consist of soul collection. Sometimes it's special assignments, like protecting the life of one who is not to die yet. That's when it becomes more about saving the person, not about making sure to reap them at the right time," she leaned back and took a sip of her soda, taking a glance around the now evacuated floor, then taking a bite of her hamburger which Sam had brought earlier.

"That man," Ciel pointed. "You could have just shot him without killing him and made him talk."

Mey Rin shook her head, "It doesn't work that way, unfortunately. My job is not to solve the mystery of who is after Felice. It's to protect her from them no matter what," she shook her head and sighed. "Time was I probably would have tried to solve it, and I would have had a partner in it as well," she smiled at some distant memory, "But things have changed. It's part of a whole lot of newly enacted policies in our department too..." she waved her hand as though that were not important, "causing quite the stir in the department. Even William is up to his neck in written complaints from reapers..."

"Is it common to be assigned to one person to protect them?" Sebastian asked. Natalia had been sitting beside him quietly, sipping on a soda as well.

"No..." Mey Rin was about to take another bite of her hamburger but stopped and looked at Natalia. A kind smile that reached her eyes formed on her face. "Some people just need to be protected for a short while. Like Dr. Lucas."

"What do you mean?" Natalia finally spoke up.

"I mean you surviving your first suicide attempt was no accident. You were assigned somebody to save you from it... may I?" Mey Rin asked politely as she approached Natalia and brought her hand to Natalia's thigh. Natalia hesitated but nodded and Mey Rin set her hand higher on Natalia's thigh, making sure not to expose her private areas more than they already were, but opening her leg slightly so that her scar was showing.

Both Natalia and Ciel blushed, the latter looking away slightly. Sebastian smirked.

Mey Rin pointed her forefinger along the scar.

"See here..." she observed, "your femoral artery is along here," she pointed just a bit lower, more in her inner thigh, "this scar is just a few millimeters off. Had you been on target, or had the cut been longer, you would have surely died. However," she retreated, allowing Natalia to breathe again, "the reaper temporarily assigned to your case, who just so happens to be one of the best, was right on time and made you miss your aim by that much. You passed out from blood loss and he made sure you arrived at hospital on time. He was in fact just recently reassigned to another special case, so you needn't worry about anyone following or observing your actions."

She left out the part where, since she'd been tainted by a demon, she had lost the protection. Or the part where, because that had been Natalia's choice, she had practically given up those protections.

Mey Rin regarded Natalia for a long while, making the other feel uncomfortable.

Natalia didn't know why she was feeling so uncomfortable. It wasn't as though she didn't have plenty of experience in staring contests. Many of her patients, well, that was all they did, they tried to intimidate by staring. But this woman did not seem to be trying to intimidate her at all. She seemed somewhat amused even.

"Hmph... I see what he saw in you..." Mey Rin said to herself, her kind smile once again reaching her eyes before she took a final bite of her hamburger and stood up.

"Well, it's been nice catching up with you, but I have a damsel in distress to attend to, so if you excuse me-" she had started to walk away when Ciel stood up and took hold of her arm, surprising not only Mey Rin but the young reaper who was assigned to her... and then Ciel realized the entire "cleanup crew" and the entire "security crew" were now staring at them as well, clipboards and cleanup gear set down, weapons pulled, all suddenly ready to attack, all of their eyes on them. All greenish-yellow eyes.

Mey Rin glanced at Ciel's hand on her elbow then at his eyes, making sure he meant no harm. "Please-" he said, letting go of her elbow, "I'd like to see her."

Mey Rin now looked a bit amused, but before she said anything else she spoke into her headset, "Stand down," she ordered. Immediately the shuffle of men and women returning to work was heard, and the only extra set of eyes on them was that of the young apprentice Sam.

She regarded the demon for a long time, licking her lips and apparently deep in thought. She was staring into his eyes in such a way that Ciel would think she was looking into his very soul, if he had one. Then she tilted her head and glanced in a different direction. "Wait here." And with that she walked away, disappearing into some room in the back, presumably in the direction of wherever they were keeping Felice.

"She's sure done well for herself," Ciel smirked, "your training no doubt?" he glanced back at Sebastian, the other shook his head slightly. "No, my Lord I don't believe my training would have helped much with that."

"What was that all about?" Natalia asked in a hush voice.

"It seems the Master's old employee now commands her own small team of death reapers. And by team I mean army. She seems to be head of her department, which sets her much higher above others. It means she is excellent at her job. It also means she is heavily protected wherever she goes. And at the moment she is on this special assignment, meaning Felice Brightmore has more protection that she is probably aware of."

"And that means I cannot get near her if I try, not without Mey Rin's explicit permission," Ciel said.

_"That also means that one of these reapers may have sold her out," _Ciel added, only for Sebastian to hear.

_"Since when do you communicate with me telepathically, my lord?"_

_"Since we are surrounded by death reapers."_

_"Ah, I see. In any case, you are absolutely right. There seems to be a broken link in the chain."_

_"And with that new policy Mey Rin mentioned, she is not likely to ever discover who that broken link is."_

_"No, she is not."_

_"Don't let Natalia in on this. I wouldn't want her pathetic little life to be in danger. This is an order."_

_"I wouldn't dream of it, my lord."_

Natalia looked around them, suddenly more nervous than she had ever been in the past months. Who were all these people? Guarding a single person? That hardly seemed likely. From what Natalia knew of people, which was quite a bit, either this woman was more important than they were letting on, or these people had a totally different motive than they were stating. Either way, Natalia sensed something was not right, and by Ciel and Sebastian's actions, they sensed it too.

"Natalia," Sebastian held out a hand to her, oddly gentle. She took it. "I would like for you to return to the suite. It's been such a long day, I am sure you are tired. We will stay back for now. Please, it would make me very happy if you returned to the suite and remained there," he held her hand between his, murmuring his soft words.

Natalia assessed him quietly. Oh, he was good. He was turning on all the charm, saying please? They obviously had something planned, and they were not going to let her in on it.

No matter, she could use this opportunity away from them. She was sure she could discover a few things herself. Mey Rin's words had piqued her curiosity, and Natalia had been in the dark for too long. She was a part of Ronald's life? Well, the more she found out the better.

She nodded, "Of course," in her most passive demeanor. If that didn't fool Sebastian and Ciel, she didn't know what would.

Sebastian kissed her hand as a goodbye, something she was not expecting but which was no surprise. He was manipulating her. He wanted her gone. But she nodded, withdrew her hand, and walked away, glancing back only once before exiting the room, the two men at the door moving aside to let her pass.

The first thing on her list was to change into something a lot more comfortable. She might find a nearby- there.

"_Con shirts - $20,_ that will have to do."

* * *

><p>She arrived at her hotel suite with her loot, changed into the t-shirt she'd bought and the pants she'd worn when she arrived, put her badge back on, and returned to the exhibiti hall. It seemed that the fiasco that had occured in that other room was mostly cleared up, people seemed to be discussing it here and there while standing in lines for other panels but mostly everybody was busy enjoying the convention.<p>

_There has to be a back door to that room..._ she thought.

As much as she looked she couldn't find anything. She gave up soon in exchange for returning to the room through the front door. When she did she found that it was completely empty. It appeared it would not even be used for the scheduled panels. They had been moved to another room, as specified by the sign on the door. Still, she tried the door to find it unlocked.

The large room was clean of everything. No cleanup crew, no security, and of course that meant no Felice. There was nothing to be found there, not even a trace of her two wardens.

There was a little room upstairs opposite the stage, but that appeared to be empty too. At least the lights were off... unless it was meant to look that way. A little more snooping around couldn't hurt.

She walked behind the half open curtain, up the stairs, and tried the doors. Locked. She sighed in disappointment, (or was it relief?) and as she turned around to leave a figure before her startled her and made her scream a little.

"Can I help you?" the man said. He was dressed like a maintenance staff member, but his accent was one she couldn't place.

"Um, m-my friends... my friend was here just now, he forgot something and I came to get it," she lied.

"Nobody comes up here, it's for staff only."

"Right. Well, he was invited up here by the staff, but he left his cell phone and asked me to come get, since he's helping our other friend down at the booth-"

The man sighed heavily, "I'll unlock it, but you got two minutes. Nobody's supposed to be up here,"

"Thank you!" she beamed. The man unlocked the door, turned the light on and allowed her to go in while he waited outside.

Natalia really didn't know what she was looking for, but in snooping around she came across some boxes that contianed sketches of the game. It seemed the 'staff' he was referring to was whoever was doing the panel at those specific times, and since their recent panels had to do with game design and history of the Phantomhive company, well, some of the boxes were left there. _Cool. _

_"Lady, you're coming up on your two minutes-" the man called in. _

"Sorry! I- I'm still looking, one more minute? Please? It's very-" just then a book at the bottom of the box caught her eye, "-important."

She made note of the title. _Ad Usum de Magia Veterum._

She repeated the title in her head several times before glancing at the door to make sure he wasn't looking, then taking her own mobile out.

"Found it!" she waved her cell phone and set the boxes back where they were, smiling sheepishly at the man, who moved aside for her to get out of the room, and locked the door again once she'd done so.

She'd have to research the title later.

* * *

><p>Not having found much down at the convention, from her perspective anyway, she returned to the suite and decided fell asleep waiting for Sebastian and Ciel.<p>

_"I know what you want," his fingers linger on her shoulders as she lays in bed. Her eyes flutter open._

_"Hmm?" His whispers are seductive, alluring. _

_"Just let me taste you, I promise I won't hurt you. You'll get what you want,"_

_"You mean we'll both get-"_

_"Shh- Your soul. You're already mine," he leans in to her neck, flicking it with his tongue, her earlobe follows. His fingers trace from her shoulders down her arms, to her chest undoing the ribbons that tie her pajama top together. His tongue finds its way up her jawline, to her bottom lip where it parts both lips open._

_She inhales sharply and lets her head fall back onto the pillow, closing her eyes letting the small pleasures take over her mind. She needed something, anything. Part of her told her it didn't matter, she was already his. This was inevitable, and appealing in every sense..._

_"Are you sure this will work?" her whispered inquiry did nothing to stop him. She felt the heat of his hushed response against her ear._

_"What kind of a demon would I be if I couldn't do such a simple thing?"_

Her leg jerked her awake. It was nighttime already, her room was dark. She'd slept the evening away.

"What were you dreaming about?"

The voice of the dream's protagonist called her attention to the darkest corner of the room, sitting in a chair that had just the other night been occupied by his master.

"You were calling out my name. It sounded like a very... _pleasant_ dream."

She didn't have to look at him to know his facial expression, she heard it in his cocky tone of voice. Still, the goosebumps on her arms and back of her neck were present, as was the warmth between her legs. Instinctively she pulled them together and brought them up.

"What is it with demons and watching people sleep?"

"You look so vulnerable when you do. Much more fragile than when you're awake. It's pleasing to my eyes."

"I thought you liked your meals strong."

"There's more to it than that, but yes, I do. But there's something to be said for the moments when your subconscious takes over. It can be an interesting spectacle to put it bluntly."

"In my profession we call it voyeurism," she smirked.

He stood, his shadow looming over her. She cleared her throat.

"Besides, I'm not a fan of the whole damsel in bed, supernatural man coming through the window to watch her sleep scene. You don't think I'm that weak, do you?"

He took a few steps toward the bed, slowly, gaging her reaction, and when he didn't see anything to make him do otherwise, he sat on the bed beside her.

_Deja vu._ She swallowed hard.

"Not at all. One can't be all that weak, to make the types of decisions you've been making lately."

Her gaze met his dark, teasing eyes.

"The type of decision you're about to make in a minute or so."

"How do you know what I'm about to do?"

"It's another perk of watching you sleep. Studying your movements, expressions, knowing where you hurt, where you _feel_ certain things," his hand approached her body, still under the covers, but didn't touch her, "What you feel. What you dream of when you sleep. It's all a reflection of your subconscious. It's telling you what you want."

Her heartbeat accelerated at that statement.

"I know what you want, Natalia. There's no shame in it. And to be truthful, I want it too,"

_Damn, he could be so convincing. _

"You do?"

"You're an adult. You make your decisions. You don't owe anybody anything. Your body has certain needs, I am _quite_ willing to satisfy."

She wanted him. God, she wanted him. Alluring didn't even begin to describe him. She'd thought as much since he jumped with her from that window. But would that change anything?

As if reading her mind he answered. "This won't change a thing for you. This isn't me taking a bit of your soul. It is what it is, a basic human need. It's just sex."

If it would be just sex, why did she feel this way? Like she was betraying someone... Ronald? The thought of him made her heart hurt. But Sebastian was right, she didn't owe anybody anything.

So going along with him, granting his specific request to satisfy her needs shouldn't feel like betrayal. And for a moment, Natalia almost forgot that before her was a demon in human form. When she looked at him she saw perhaps what she wanted to see. A man, a colleague, a friend. A savior. A knight in black, shining armor.

She took a deep breath and with one look told him everything he needed to know. He smiled, and moved closer to her on the bed. His hand moved up to her shoulder, just like in the dream. Long, slender fingers traced along her neckline, up to the base of her neck, tangled in her hair, and yanked slightly, causing her to gasp in surprise as his lips met hers.

His tongue teased her lips, which immediately opened for him, his tongue entering, exploring her mouth as it had done before with different intentions.

She panicked just a little, and she realized she didn't know what to do.

As if reading her mind, again, he answered her unspoken question.

"Just let yourself feel me."

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><p><em>Please review ^_^. You dont' have to, but it'd be appreciated. I promise I'll continue this scene in the next chapter. <em>


	36. One Hell of a Lover

**Due to some circumstances I am having to re-post this chapter. If you already read it don't bother re-reading. If you haven't, welcome to the story and thanks for giving it a chance! *Some things are best left to the imagination.***

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><p>"Just let yourself feel me."<p>

She was rendered immobile by the feeling of his breath against her skin when he whispered those words, his tongue soon inside her mouth, his fingers holding her by the hair, not pulling it at that moment so much as they were holding her in place, yet she wanted him to give it another tug. He had to know the effect he was having on her, her mind clouded over as her body surrendered easily to him, heating up at each hint of a touch.

His free hand ghosting over her body, only barely touching the fabric of her nightgown as it moved over her chest, barely touching as he moved down to her waist. He was teasing her, making her want him. The way she opened her legs slightly gave her away. How could she possibly want him more than she already did?

She felt him smirk as he kissed her at the movement of her legs, reaching his hand around to her bottom and gripping firmly, eliciting a small gasp from her. He suddenly lifted her, off the bed and onto his lap, making her straddle him as she marveled at how easy it was for him to manipulate her body. Her heart was racing. It seemed he didn't quite feel happy like that. Almost as soon as he had placed her there, he separated from the kiss and pulled back, assessing her.

The position felt a bit awkward. He grinned, brushing a few loose strands of her hair back gently before gripping her again suddenly with both hands, one at her head and the other at her waist, bringing her onto her back on the carpet at a speed faster than if she'd fallen, making her groan in pain and surprise, though he'd held her head. He gripped her legs and placed them around his hips and pushed himself against her. She could feel him, larger than she'd thought for a man of his slender built.

One hand moved from her legs to her face, forcing open her mouth, his tongue entering it to continue what he had started. He bit her tongue, controlling it, his hips grinding against her, giving her a taste of what he had in store. She couldn't help the whimper that escaped her. She wanted the undergarments off, his pants off. She trembled beneath him at the thought of him inside. His kissing slowed to a gentle peck before going in for another bite of her lip, tilting her chin upward to have access to her neck. She was willing to bet he was doing anything to keep her heart beating fast, from startling her and probably would go as far as to frighten her. He was a demon after all.

The worst part was that was exactly what she craved.

Without warning he bit her neck hard, hard for her anyway, for him it was but a nibble. His other hand moved up her leg, fingers found her every joint, from her ankles, up to her knees, and upward... teasing. She exhaled sharply in frustration. He pulled her hair and a single finger grazed over her.

She gasped, biting down on her lips to keep the sound in.

"Don't," he ordered.

"I want to hear every noise I elicit from you."

He felt how aroused she was and smiled to himself, wondering if Ronald had ever done her like that. Oh, what the reaper would do if he found out the things he was going to do tonight.

Natalia inhaled sharply as he continued his work, preparing her, she could tell, for what was to come. She rocked her hips forward clearly asking for more. His mouth opened slightly showing what looked like two small fangs.

"Do you know what the best part of living for so long is? Why one never truly gets bored?"

Her breath hitched as she searched for an answer he clearly wanted.

"N-no," her hands in fists at the sides of her head, afraid of touching him. If he wanted her to touch him, he would have told her to. She looked into his eyes, a hint of the red glow in the orbs. He leaned downward, an inch from her face and spoke in a low voice, just above a whisper.

"The way humans prohibit themselves from feeling the pleasures their bodies were created for experiencing," he continued, "It gives me satisfaction to know that I am showing you a world that you think is dark. Your social norms, your religions, have taught you that what you're feeling is wrong," his mouth just next to her ear, his finger working at maintaining her arousal. She breathed sharply in anticipation.

"...this body of yours is equipped to feel such pleasures..." he continued. Her hips moving of their own accord, squeezing, "...pleasures you are clearly so eager to feel..." he licked her neck from the base up to her jawline. "I give you these pleasures..." he shifted above her, pushing his fingers into her mouth, closing it and making her lick them. She twirled her tongue around each finger eagerly, licking her lips when he withdrew them before he slid his tongue inside, playing with hers, tasting her.

That glow in his eyes was brighter now as he looked at her, on his knees between her legs, controlling their movement, opening them all the way. With one hand he unzipped his pants and let them slide down, revealing himself. Her eyes widened, her mouth open in surprise. He shifted his hips, positioning himself better. Her hips moved and he let them. It gave him satisfaction to see how much she wanted him.

"I give you these pleasures..." he repeated.

"...and you call me a demon," he grunted at the statement, at the same time earning her loudest scream yet.

It hurt just for a bit and then a pleasure that she was not accustomed to followed. It was the way he moved that was the foreign part.

She tilted her head back and he snaked an arm around her waist, lifting her off the ground just a bit, her legs wrapped around his waist.

"I am going to give your body what it so desperately wants from me," he grinned, "and then I am going to tear a bit of your soul,"

She opened her eyes and lifted her head to look at him in surprise.

"Is that alright with you?"

He was asking? She was baffled.

He shifted her just a little, just to readjust his arms, putting her own arms over his shoulders.

"I want to make sure this is what you want, so I am asking. Is that alright with you?"

She nodded. "Yes. I've already told you, it's yours."

He held her tightly, making her bounce on his lap. "Aah-! I can't talk when you're doing that!"

He chuckled, "I know what you've said," he elicited another gasp, "and do you remember what I said to you?"

"Do you really want to talk about this now?!" she snapped.

He chuckled again, "My, my, quite eager to continue are we?"

She tilted her head back again, this time in frustration, though even she didn't know if the frustration was sexual of because of the topic, or both.

He brought her closer, inches from him and forcing her to look at him, "It's going to hurt you, Natalia," he said, a bit more somber, a serious expression on his face.

He saw the understanding in her eyes.

"I know," she said.

"And you still want me to do it?"

"Yes," she responded. The plea in the subtext, in her eyes, was not missed on him. He was pensive only for a second, as he could see beyond that single word.

This was her way of punishing herself.

And this is not what he had planned this event to be like.

He lifted her up and held her close, making her look at him. Her heart was beating fast, as it had been since he first touched her, he could still hear it. Her body still craved him, he could feel her excitement.

But he gave her a scolding look.

"No."

"No?"

"No." He repeated.

"What do you mean?"

"I have decided not to,"

"What in two seconds you changed your mind? Wh-Mmm!-" he stopped her talking with a kiss that nearly stole her breath away.

"I'm still going to pleasure you," he smirked, "I have simply changed my mind. For now." He clarified.

She wanted to protest but he was making it difficult, the things he was doing to her... she felt too good to be upset over anything.

"You are in for a real treat tonight Dr. Lucas, to say the least." He nibbled her earlobe before he whispered in her ear. "I am _one hell of a lover_."


	37. Sex and Food

**Due to some circumstances I am having to re-post this chapter. If you already read it don't bother re-reading. If you haven't, welcome to the story and thanks for giving it a chance! *Some things are best left to the imagination.***

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><p>Natalia awoke a little after sunup facedown on her bed, the comforter covering her. She blinked a few times, getting used to the light coming in through the open window. She was surprised she couldn't hear the noise from the traffic below. Maybe she was a little deaf from her screams last night.<p>

Last night. The images were coming back to her as she sat up, realizing she was nude. She blushed at the memories and didn't know whether to smile or be angry at herself.

"I have soundproofed the bedroom," his voice came from the doorway. He was fully clothed and did not look the least bit worn out.

Of course not, he's a demon.

"I thought the noise from the traffic below would wake you, and you need your rest. Shall I bring you a cup of tea?"

He was so formal. It made her uneasy. She simply nodded and he was out the door.

She looked around the room and was shocked.

It wasn't quite the mess she'd expected to see after...

Had she imagined it all?

She stood quickly only to find proof that she had not imagined it. She was sore. _Everywhere._

Painfully and slowly she made her way to the bathroom, to brush her teeth and hair among other things.

When she came out she hurried back to the bed, throwing the comforter over herself just before she saw him at the doorway again, a small tray in his hands.

"I cleaned your room while you were asleep," he approached, bringing her the tray to the bed. That explained why it was not the mess she'd imagined. Still, she had her doubts. She did have a history of hallucinations after all. Then again, that had not been natural.

"This is green tea. It's all we have in the cabinets. I've added a bit of mint to help you feel more refreshed. Iimagined you might need it."

At those words her eyes met his, a hint of a smile in them, and she knew. It had really happened.

All of it.

She tried to cover herself with the comforter, flinching.

"The tea will help with the soreness."

She took one sip.

"Thank you,"

"You're welcome."

He stood there as though waiting for something. She lookd up at him, but the moment her eyes met his she looked away.

"Feeling a bit bashful this morning?" there was a hint of mockery in his voice. "Don't be. You're an adult. You did everything your body wanted you to."

She shut her eyes at that, a flashback of her bent over him made her shake her head.

"I think I need a shower," she said, setting the tray on the nightstand and wrapping the comforter around herself, avoiding eye contact with him at all costs.

Sebastian simply grinned.

After her shower, feeling somewhat more refreshed she put some clothes on, the ones she'd bought the day before, and peeked into the dining area where Ciel was sitting reading the newspaper. Sebastian was not around. She took a deep breath and made her painful way to a chair.

"Good morning." Ciel said nonchalantly.

"Hey," she replied, trying to sound as casual as possible.

"How did you sleep?" he asked. An odd question.

"Alright," she said, almost a question. But it wasn't the first time he asked that. "And yourself?"

"I'm a demon, I don't need sleep. We've been over this."

"Right," she grabbed a bit of toast, spreading jelly over it, and some fresh fruit. There was a pot of what looked like green tea on the table. She begrudgingly served herself a cup.

"I was trying to do some gaming," Ciel said, changing the page on the newspaper, "but someone kept distracting me with their screams for harder sex."

Natalia stopped mid-chew, feeling her face getting hotter. Her head lowered in embarrassment.

"I'm sorry," she said when she finally found her voice.

"It's alright," he changed the page again. The whole time he had not even looked at her. She figured now it was probably for the best. She did see a small part of his face from above the newspaper, and his face was red too. He was blushing.

She let herself be tricked into seeing him as a child again.

"No, it's not. You shouldn't have heard that. I am sorry," she gazed at him intently as though she could will him into looking at her, at least to acknowledge he'd heard.

He set the newspaper down. "I'm heading downstairs. I have some business to take care of." He began to walk away, only to glance back when he was at the front door.

"Don't... go anywhere. Just stay here. Just for today. Promise?"

What was off-putting about that was the tone of his voice. It wasn't a demand. It was a plea.

Eyebrows knit in confusion, but she nodded. He offered a small smile and left, locking the door behind him and leaving Natalia alone in the suite, wondering what business he could possibly had planned that he needed her out of the way, and whether it had to do with Felice Brightmore.


	38. Bad Choices

**It has been literally like two years guys. How can I even begin to explain. Does anybody still read this? I can't even list the number of things that have happened in life to elicit this hiatus. I still want to try to finish this story. The chapters will be significantly shorter though, like paragraph short. For the sake of updates. Please forgive me. **

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><p>All day she had waited for something to happen. She could have decided not to listen to Ciel, she could have gone down to the hall and continue enjoying the convention. But something told Natalia that at least for today, following the young demon's request may be the best option.<p>

But it had been hours, and she had no way of knowing where her 'captors' were or if they were coming back at all.

She stood by the open balcony of the common area of the suite, wondering, and waiting.

An image appeared in her head. Herself, as nothing more than a blood-spatter on the concrete below, and she immediately reprimanded herself for her weak thinking. The image flashed again. This time she stepped back and away from the open balcony.

Hands wrapped themselves around her waist possessively. She looked up to the red eyes, the smirking face, and let his darkness consumer her once more.

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><p>Hours later Natalia found herself quite out of breath and on her back on the bed. The sheets were with her clothing somewhere on the bedroom floor.<p>

"That's twice in twenty four hours," she panted, "there should be a limit to the... number of times a human can have sex with a... a demon... within the same day..." she tried hard to catch her breath as she wiped some sweat off her forehead.

The demon laying next to her looked nowhere near worn out. He simply smirked.

She looked at him, and smiled despite herself. The smile soon erupted into a chuckle.

"What does it take to tire _you_ out?"

There was no response.

Sebastian got up and dressed, as though nothing of consequence had happened.

"I have some business to attend to. You should order room service."

With that, he left the room. When Natalia heard the front door of the suite open and shut again, she knew she had made a mistake.


End file.
